Rescues
by Skipper1313
Summary: Six months have passed since Skipper was captured by Dr. Hamsterviel, and Angel and the ohana have searched for him fruitlessly. Now, Hamsterviel is planning to take his revenge, and Lilo must turn to an old enemy to find the gerbil before it is too late.
1. The Report

All right, here it is: the first chapter of the sequel to Experiment 628: Shifter. If you haven't read it yet, I suggest you do, so you don't miss out on anything that might not be explained. Well, here it goes!

**Rescues**

Sequel to: Experiment 628: Shifter

Chapter 1: The Report

With the sun blaring in the window, Lilo finally woke up and glanced at the clock. It read 9:30 AM. She noticed that Stitch was gone, probably having slipped out earlier and let her sleep. She glanced at the calendar, and realized what day it was: November 15. She groaned as the knowledge of the day's importance came back: it was now six months since Hamsterviel had taken Skipper.

About six and a half months ago, Lilo's life had taken a huge change. Cobra's nephew Skipper, friendless and lonely, moved to the island. Lilo and Stitch had instantly befriended him. On first glance a genius and having a life to be envied, Lilo soon found out that Skipper had lost much during his early life. It was shortly after that he lost his humanity, as did she, when they were attacked by experiment 628, now known as Shifter. It had caused them to change into experiments. However, this helped them, as the sought Dr. Hamsterviel, to take him down before he could do any harm. However, the mission turned disastrous, as Lilo and Skipper found their evil side, and nearly destroyed themselves and the ones they loved. With great injury, Skipper had saved them by climbing onto Hamsterviel's bomb, and destroying it in midair. Though gravely injured, he returned and was treated by Jumba. Soon after, he confessed his love for Angel, and Stitch and Lilo confessed their love for each other. David had proposed to Nani, and life seemed perfect, even though Hamsterviel had escaped, and captured Reuben in the process. They soon found where he was hiding, and sought after him again, leaving behind Skipper, still injured, under the watchful eye of Lilo's friend Victoria. Upon reaching Hamsterviel's hideaway, they found that he had cloned Reuben, and perfected him into a fighting machine. After a great confrontation, the new experiment, Tiberius, ran away, and the other made it out just before the place exploded. Upon returning to Lilo's house, they had found it been attacked by Hamsterviel. Skipper had been captured, and Victoria had been hit by 628's power. However, she had coped rather well with the change. She was now wearing a holo emitter like Lilo, but looked quite lovely, in Lilo's opinion, as an experiment. Her fur was aqua completely aqua colored, with no changes in the color anywhere on her body. Her antennae were exactly like Angel's, and here eyes, instead of the normal black, were a soft pink. Jumba theorized that it was due to the mixture of the DNA strands. She had no extra arms, but did have wings instead that could be pulled out. Jumba, however, had no explanation for this, as there was nothing close to wings on Angel, Reuben, or Stitch. When asked about it, he merely said, "628 must be playing with DNA strands. Is quite a genius experiment, no?" They had looked into Victoria's powers, and there wasn't much: she had increased strength, sight, hearing, and smell, and could see in many different visions, but that was it. However, Victoria didn't really care: she was really enjoying being an experiment. However, Angel had not been herself since the capture.

Ever since Skipper had disappeared, Angel had not said a word. She barely ate, slept, or did anything other then sit by the window and stare out of it. The entire ohana had tried many different things to cheer her up, but nothing worked. Stitch was afraid that Angel was going into a depression, and might harm herself. However, Lilo believed that she wouldn't hurt herself until she was that she was never going to see her love, Skipper, again. The day after it had happened, Lilo had called Cobra and the Galactic Council, asking for assistance: both agreed to help her. A week later, David and Nani had been married by Pleakly, with Jumba playing the role of the bride's father, Stitch as best man, and Lilo as the ring bearer. It had been the first, and only day, since the Hamsterviel attack that Lilo had not once thought of Skipper. The day after, Jumba had tried using his new invention to get rid of Athena, Lilo's evil side, but the machine had failed, and nearly fried Lilo in the process. Jumba had had to hide in the ship for a few days to avoid the wrath of Stitch. But time wore on, six months had come and gone, and there was still no sign of Skipper, Hamsterviel, or anything closely related to them. The first few weeks, Lilo had sat and listened to the daily reports given by the council, but after listening to "We are still unable to locate them." many times, she had grown bored and sad, and decided to leave it to Jumba. The more time that passed, the more Lilo felt like she would never see Skipper again, and in turn, never see Angel smile again. Some times, Lilo would hear Angel singing something, but she would immediately stop if she thought someone was listening. Lilo wanted to know what it was, but Angel never said a word. Lilo knew today was going to be a hard day for many people. Sighing sadly, she took the lift down for breakfast.

When she walked in the kitchen, she saw that Stitch, Pleakly, and Angel were there, and everyone was quite unhappy. Stitch was actually eating his cereal nicely, Pleakly sat with a blank look on his face, and Angel merely stirred the cereal round and round the bowl, not really paying attention. When she saw Lilo come in, she got up from her spot and took the lift back up. Lilo decided to eat the cereal Angel had left, knowing that she wouldn't care. When she had finished, she was about to go upstairs, when she heard Angel singing softly. She strained her ears, but couldn't quite make out the words. Running back through the kitchen, she ran outside and climbed up the wall, sitting under the dome so Angel couldn't see her, even if she looked. From here, Lilo could hear Angel clearly. She had never heard the song before, but it was entrancing.

"_Wonk ouy niotceffa erom deen I_

_In you and I_

_There's a new land_

_Angels in flight_

_Wonk ouy noitsceffa erom deen I_

_A sanctuary, my sanctuary yeah_

_Where fears and lies melt away_

_Music inside_

_Wonk ouy noitsceffa erom deen I_

_What's left of me_

_What's left of me now_

_I watch you fast asleep_

_All I fear means nothing_

_In you and I_

_There's a new land_

_Angels in flight_

_Wonk ouy noitceffa erom deen I_

_A Sanctuary, my sanctuary yeah_

_Where fears and Lies melt away_

_Music inside_

_Wonk ouy niotceffa erom deen I_

_What's left of me_

_What's left of me_

_Nwod dna spu ynam os _

_My heart's a battleground_

_Snoitome eurt_

_Wonk ouy noitceffa erom deen I_

_Snoitome eurt deen I _

_You showed me, how I see_

_That nothing is whole and nothing is broken._

_In you and I_

_There's a new land_

_Angels in flight_

_Wonk ouy noitceffa erom deen I_

_A sanctuary, my sanctuary yeah_

_Where fears and lies melt away_

_Music inside_

_Wonk ouy noitceffa erom deen I_

_What's left of me_

_What's left of me now_

_All our fears, all our lies_

_Melt away_

_Wonk ouy noitceffa erom deen I_"

As the song finished, Lilo heard Angel start crying. She decided she needed to go calm her down, so she climbed in through the window and put her arm around Angel. Lilo noticed she was holding a photo of Skipper when he had been recovering in the med bed on the ship. Angel felt Lilo put her arm around her, and turned and cried on her shoulder.

"We'll find him Angel, don't worry. I know we will." Lilo said quietly. Angel knew that Lilo had heard her song, but for once didn't care: she was too preoccupied with thoughts of Skipper.

"What if he doesn't?" Angel asked, speaking her first words to Lilo in six months. "What if I never see him again?"

"Stitch asked me something similar to that once. Way back when you two first met, and Gantu took you after you turned good. You want to know what I told him?" Angel nodded. "I told him that he'd find you, because you gotta believe in love." Lilo turned to look Angel in the face. "Just listen to your heart Angel; you'll find him there. All you have to do is follow your heart."

Angel turned back to the window. "You really think that we're going to find him?" Angel asked, a slight amount of hope in her voice.

Lilo smiled. "What does your heart tell you?"

Angel closed her eyes for a minute, breathing slowly and deeply. "I think… I think it says that… that we'll hear of him soon." She opened her eyes and turned back to Lilo. "Do you think it's right?"

Lilo thought for a moment. "Truthfully, I think that you are because Hamsterviel should have a plan by now, and he shows himself when his plan starts."

Angel nodded, her eyes showing she was close to crying again. "That's what I'm afraid of. What did he do to Skipper?"

Lilo gave her a hug. "Don't worry. Whatever Hamsterwheel did, we can put it right."

**Hamsterviel's Ship**

_Dream_

_He was standing in a small office. The only thing the room contained was a door, a desk, and two chairs. However, there was no need for the chairs. No one was planning on sitting in them._

_"You are still injured, Skip. I want you gone before she gets here." Said a tall man in the corner._

_"I can still fight. Besides, she's my problem. I should have faced her years ago, but never had the guts." Skip said. A knock on the door broke up the argument, and Skipper immediately hid behind the door. The man opened it, careful not to alert the 'guest' to his presence._

_"Kristy, I wondered when I would see you again."_

_Kristy walked in and Cobra shut the door behind her. Thanks to the poor light, Skipper was invisible against the wall._

_"Cobra, I'm here to finish what I started." She said, brining a gun to point at Cobra._

_"You never started." Cobra responded. "You started Michael, who got away from you."_

_"Luck." Kristy spat. "Besides, I need you to tell me where he is. I know you gave him a new ID, and I need to know what it is."_

_"Or what? You going to kill me? Unlikely." Cobra said._

_"No, but I can hurt several people close to you. Does that name Lilo ring a bell? Maybe I could hurt her first, by getting rid of her precious dogs, like… Stitch I think. Or maybe I'll just kill that pathetic pink one… Angel, is it?"_

_"Try it." Skip said. Kristy whirled around, but Skipper was still in the dark, so she couldn't see him._

_"Who's there?" She asked. Skipper decided to play with her head, and crawled up on the wall, and only stuck his head out covered with a cloak head._

_"I am."_

_"And who are you?" She asked, although it sounded almost like an order._

_Skipper laughed. "You don't recognize me? I'm not surprised. You left me little more then a bloody pulp last time we met."_

_Kristy fumbled her gun, but quickly regained her composure. "So Mike, this is going to be easier then I thought. I figured I was going to have to chase you for a few months before I killed you. But I guess you see how futile it is to run." She raised her gun and shot Skipper between the eyes. However, much to her fear, he merely laughed._

_"A lot has happened between then and now. Then, I was weak, and now I am bullet proof." He said. Out of fear, Kristy emptied the rest of her gun into Skipper's head, which did nothing. When her gun clicked, telling her she was out, Cobra tackled her and knocked her out cold._

_"So, what happens now?" Skip asked._

_"She disappears. You should go back to the house." Cobra said. "You have a plan to work on." Skip nodded, and headed out the door._

The alarm went off, and Skipper reached and turned it off. He glanced up at the ceiling of his room, his mind wandering. _Another weird dream_. He thought. Shrugging, he donned his red cape, the clasp in the shape of an H. He walked down the hall and onto the bridge.

"Ah, did you sleep well?" A voice from the chair asked.

"Just another unusual dream, doctor." Skipper replied. The chair swiveled around.

"So, are you up to being a very bad boy today?" Hamsterviel asked.

Skipper nodded. "Anything to please you. Just no more decapitations; messes aren't really my thing."

Hamsterviel laughed. "Do not worry; this is a simple break and enter. Then we are ready to go back and destroy those pesky earthlings. Go get ready." Skipper walked out of the room, and Hamsterviel turned the chair back.

"I see he is starting to remember his life. I must need to make serious improvements on the Amnesio Ray. If he remembers at the wrong time, it could dangerously effect my plans." Hamsterviel said to himself, pulling out what appeared to be a red bazooka. "Just a tweak here and there, up the output and erasing, and it's ready." He summoned Skipper back in, and he appeared within moments.

"One last thing, Skipper. This should protect you from any harmful poisons they use on you. Not only that, but it will prevent you from accidentally carrying them back with you." Skipper nodded. Hamsterviel aimed, and shot the gun at Skipper. It was a curious sensation for Skip; it felt like he was drifting, and his mind went in and out of his reach. The feeling passed, and Hamsterviel smiled. "You should be ready now. Have fun!" Skipper nodded, and again left the room, the dream gone from his mind.

Hamsterviel reflected on the past few weeks, ever since he had gotten the ray from one of his 'contacts'. He had made great progress using Skip, both political and in revenge. Right now, Skip was going to get a weapon said to be able to kill the pesky experiments. However, the downside was it was an ancient weapon, on Earth called a sword, and no one was sure how to use it. But Hamsterviel figured he could always add to Skipper's programming; he already had made one addition. He had gotten rid of… six people now, if his count was correct; all had been killed within the past two or three weeks. Of course, he had to worry about Tiberius. Ever since Skipper had 'joined' with them, Tiberius had been getting more and more rebellious, and trying to find a reason to kick out or kill Skip. One of them would have to go, and Skipper was far more valuable. Besides, Tiberius had flat out refused to wear the splendid red cape, which Skipper did without question. In fact, Skipper followed every command without question, while Tiberius tried to calculate every minor detail and questioned his every move.

"He will have to be taken care of." Hamsterviel said to himself. "Once I have that sword, and Skipper can wield it, since it is to large for me, he can take out that pesky clone of mine. But, I will keep 625 around. He may yet prove useful. I can't wait to see the pathetic looks on the earth girl's face as she is killed by her own friend. Oh, it makes me so happy to think of such things. I think this deserves an evil laugh!" He laughed insanely for a minute, and would have continued had it not been for the com system alerting him to an incoming message.

"Who is bothering me with call?" He yelled.

"Sorry sir. This is Skipper, and I'm ready to depart on your order."

Hamsterviel smiled. "Good, good. When you get back, come straight to me: I have a little job for you to do."

"Yes sir. I'll be back within the hour." The line disconnected, and Hamsterviel started laughing again.

**The Next Day**** (Lilo's house, 7:00 AM)**

Angel sat by the window after another night without sleep. It was nothing new: she only got a small handful of hours in a week. She was going to stay in the room, as she always did, and think about Skip; but something told her to go listen to the report. Lilo's words last night floated back to her.

"_Just listen to your heart Angel; you'll find him there. All you have to do is follow your heart_." Angel pondered them for a minute, and decided to run out to the ship to catch the report. She made just as the Council Woman came on. Neither she nor Jumba noticed her arrival, so she hung back so she could hear but not be seen.

"Any news Ms. Council Woman?" Jumba asked.

"For once, yes." She replied. Angel's heart jumped, and Jumba got excited.

"Is good news I hope."

The Council Woman shook her head. "We have a video tape that may tell us where Dr. Hamsterviel was, at least a few hours ago. There is no audio, and the visual is poor, but I think you'll be able to tell why I think so." Over the Council Woman came a video clip. Judging by the numbers in the bottom, it was a security camera. It was quite dark, and only shapes could be made out. As they watched, they saw a tall figure in the room, standing by the desk. In the window came another figure, this one quite small, and attacked the man. Judging by the reaction, it was likely that the man was yelling, but without audio they couldn't be sure. The taller man dropped quickly. They could see no movement in the room, until the small figure, this time carrying something on his back, went back out the window. The tape paused and grew into a smaller screen in the corner, the rest of it again covered by the Council Woman.

"As you can see, we have no clear footage. We know that the man is dead, and we know what was stolen. What we don't know is who the figure is." The clip in the corner rewound and enhanced on the face of the attacker. Angel peered hard at it, but couldn't make anything clear out.

"It could be Tiberius." She said, walking forward, startling Jumba and the Council Woman. "But with the shadows, I don't think even Stitch can be sure."

Jumba retained his surprise for later, and turned back to the Council Woman. "You said you is knowing object that was stolen. What is it?" He asked.

The Council Woman sighed. "I don't wish to broadcast it on an unsecured channel, but I will say this: you gave it to me to hide three and a years ago, just in case the 'incident' happened again. You said you would keep the copy to be safe." Jumba's face turned to fear.

"Are you being sure?" He said.

"I'm afraid so. I'll contact you soon with more information." The line disconnected. Jumba still looked horrified.

"Jumba, what's wrong?" Angel asked.

"Please to be getting Lilo and 626. I will be getting Cobra and Gantu. Is very important we talk.

Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! In accordance with the last book, I will try and update this every Wednesday, every other at the worst unless something is seriously wrong. Please review and tell me what you think.


	2. Getting Help

Disclaimer: I do not own Lilo and Stitch.

Chapter 2: Getting Help

Thirty minutes later, they were all there in Jumba's ship. Angel had immediately grabbed Lilo and Stitch, not saying a word, but simply beckoning them to follow. Jumba had contacted Gantu and Cobra, and they had arrived a minute ago. They all waited patiently for Jumba to start. They didn't have to wait long.

"I have received good and bad news from Grand Council Woman." Jumba said. "They have tape of experiment, whom we believe to be Tiberius, stealing very important object. Good news is that we is now knowing approximately where Hamsterviel is. They have sent ships to search around area. Is only matter of time before they find him."

"What's the bad news?" Cobra asked.

Jumba sighed. "Was object that was stolen. I kept it secret from everyone but Council Woman. Is based off of old Earth weapon called sword. Is powerful enough to kill experiments, even 626."

"Why would you make something like that?" Lilo burst out angrily. Stitch put his hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down.

"Please to be understanding little girl; was created almost three years ago, about six months after Leroy incident. I decided we needed way of getting rid of evil experiments for good. So, I created weapon that could. It looked like old Earth weapon to avoid suspicion. In fact, I created two. Gave one to Council Woman for hiding, kept other one hidden here on Earth for easy access. That aside, Hamsterviel now has weapon that can be killing my genius experiments. Is likely he will be coming for revenge soon with such a weapon. We need ideas for safety and defenses."

Gantu sighed. "It won't be easy. That was Skipper's forte." Stitch glanced over at Angel; he could see tears forming in her eyes. He decided to steer away from the subject.

"Not matter now. We need lots of scans." Stitch said.

Cobra nodded. "I think that one of your ships needs to be in constant orbit. You can switch off or whatever you want. Both ships will need to be continuously scanning for anything out of the ordinary. We also need to figure out some safety precautions in case he does land. Jumba, we need you to track down that other sword of yours; we may need it if Hamsterviel has any more experiments up his sleeves. Lilo, Stitch, and Angel, you will do nothing unless ordered otherwise. I do not want to have to rescue you as well. We already have two we need to get. What you can do, however, is go around the island and warn all the experiments you can to be watchful for Hamsterviel. However, make sure you are clear that they are to take no action against him unless threatened by him or asked to do so by Jumba, the Grand Council Woman, or I. Are we clear?"

The trio nodded, and Lilo spoke for them. "We understand completely. Do you want us to start now?"

"I believe that's it." Cobra responded. "Jumba, who are you going to need to retrieve the other sword?"

Jumba stroked his chin and thought for a moment. "Would only be needing 626. While he is with me, I can program him to be using sword like a master."

"You can make changes to experiments after they're created?" Lilo asked.

Jumba nodded. "Is not recommended, though. If you do it wrong, could cause trouble. See, experiment like 626 is finely tuned machine. If even one error occurred, or I put in too much information for him to handle, would throw off balance, and 626 would be able to do nothing other then be normal puppy dog."

"Kind of like when you're making a soda, and when you add to it, you add too much water, so it doesn't taste good." Lilo said.

"Exactly." Jumba said. There was a moment of silence. "Come along 626, we is needing to find sword." Stitch gave Lilo a quick kiss on the cheek, and walked over to Jumba. Everyone else started moving, also. Cobra went to coordinate with the Grand Council Woman. Gantu went to his ship, and started preparing to go into orbit. Lilo and Angel went to warn the experiments.

They had walked for a few minutes, before Lilo decided to speak. "Are you actually going to listen to Cobra and not chase after Hamsterviel?"

Angel laughed coldly. "I get one whiff of that gerbil, and nothing will stop me. Besides, Cobra said we could do nothing without orders. He never said where those orders had to come from, now did he?"

Lilo smiled. "Just promise that you'll tell me before you go. I won't stop you, because I know I can't. But it would be better if you took someone with you to help, right?" She asked.

Angel nodded. "I promise." Angel stopped and glanced around. "So where do we start?"

Lilo shrugged. "Doesn't really matter. All we really need to do is find Nosy, and he'll spread it around to the rest of the experiments."

Angel sat down on a nearby rock. "Then we don't need to go anywhere."

"Why not?" Lilo asked, slightly confused.

"I saw Nosy listening in on the meeting using Shush. He'll probably have said something to half the island, human and experiment alike." Angel explained.

Lilo smiled and sat down across from her. "Figures. So, what do we do now?"

Angel shrugged. "Not much we can do. Only one at the house is Pleakly, since Nani's at work and David's surfing on the beach. Jumba and Stitch are going to be gone for a while." Angel yawned. "I think I'm going to go and have a nap."  
Lilo nodded. "I might as well hang out at the house. If anything new happens, that the first place I'm going to hear about it. When Stitch gets back, we can always hang out together then." Lilo yawned. "Or maybe I'll just join you for a nap. I didn't sleep well last night." They walked together back to Lilo's room, careful to avoid detection by Pleakly, who was attempting to vacuum the stains off the table: needless to say, it wasn't working very well. Lilo slept on the top bunk, and Angel took the bottom one, deciding it was probably better then the usual windowsill nap. Lilo drifted off quickly, and Angel followed after a few minutes. However, Angel wished soon wished she hadn't.

_Angel's Dream_

_She was walking down a long hallway. At the end was a large, wooden door with a handle. She walked down and opened the door. On the other side was Skipper. Angel ran and through herself on him._

_"Skipper! I knew I would see you again! I knew it!" She cried._

_"Do I know you?" He asked._

_Angel gasped and took a step back. "It's me! You don't remember your own love?" Her eyes started to water._

_"Me? Love? You have got to be kidding." He said. "I work for Dr. Hamsterviel. I don't need love."_

_Angel took another step back in fear. "No, you wouldn't work for him! You love me!" She said, tears spilling down her face. From behind he pulled out a sword._

_"Yeah, I would work for him. He's going to take over the universe. In fact, he sent me here to get rid of all of you." Angel's back was now against the wall, and she had nowhere to go. She saw Skipper raise the sword. When he brought it down, there was a blue flash_.

And then she woke up, yelling and crying. She cried for several minutes, and then looked at the top bunk, seeing Lilo awake and sobbing also.

"You had a nightmare too?" Lilo asked through her tears.

Angel nodded. "You tell me yours, I'll tell you mine." This caused Lilo to smirk slightly.

"You make it sound like we're trading secrets. Fine. In my dream, I was in a large room with you, Stitch, Victoria, and Skipper. Skip and Stitch were fighting, and you were slumped unconscious against the wall. Skip and Stitch were so busy fighting that they weren't paying attention to anything, and were coming closer and closer to Victoria, who was stuck in a corner since she couldn't climb walls. I saw Leroy jump off the ceiling and onto Victoria. I saw Skipper's sword draw blood, and Victoria screaming. That's when I woke up."

Angel nodded, and then recounted her dream, making her cry all over again. Lilo started crying, too, and they threw their arms around each other and hugged. They stayed for five minutes, before they heard the lift. They broke apart and glanced down, and saw Stitch, who was baffled as to why they were both crying. He climbed up to them, and they threw themselves on Stitch, starting to cry all over again. Stitch was completely lost as to what to do, so he put his arms around them and slowly stroked their heads. When they finally calmed down, they were going to tell their dreams to Stitch, but he stopped them.

"Don't want you sad. Naga think about it." He said. Angel and Lilo both nodded.

"So, how was the trip?" Lilo asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Fun." Stitch said. "We found sword, and Jumba looking at it now. He reprogrammed me to fight with sword. Had to get rid of something for 'balance'."

"He obviously didn't get rid of your good looks." Lilo said, causing Stitch to blush.

"He got rid of ability to climb walls."

Lilo shrugged. "Yeah, but you can do without it, right?" Stitch nodded, and all of their stomachs growled in unison, causing Lilo and Stitch to laugh. "Let's go grab some food." Lilo said. They started walking, but realized that Angel wasn't coming with them.

"You two go. I'll be there soon." She said gloomily. When they had gone, she started crying again. "Will you truly forget me Skip?" She asked to no one in particular. "Why would you? How would you?" She buried her face in the pillow, and after several moments decided to go off by herself. She pondered where to go, and decided to go to a spot that very few people visited: a small cave on the north side of the island, under an outcrop. You would miss it unless you were coming from the sea, or knew exactly where to look. She crawled out the window, and merely jumped to the ground. She ignored the pain, and ran off in the direction of the cave.

Down in the kitchen, Lilo and Stitch watched Pleakly. He had tried for the past three hours to get the stain off the table, using a vacuum, an iron, scraping it with a knife, and was now in the process of hooking up a power sander to get rid of it.

"You would think after seven years on Earth, he could figure out how to get a stain out." Lilo whispered to Stitch. Stitch chuckled, which was quickly drowned out as Pleakly started the sander. He immediately lost his grip, and it fell on his foot.

"Ow!" He yelled, hopping around while the sander, still on, sat on the floor. Stitch picked it up and flipped it off. He then proceeded to unplug it and toss it in the closet.

"We'll get it later." Lilo said. Pleakly ran off to his room to fix his foot, while Lilo and Stitch started getting lunch. They made themselves sandwiches, and Stitch made an extra one for Angel. However, by the time they got back up to Lilo's room, Angel was gone.

Stitch sighed. "She be back eventually." He said.

"Her heart needs to be fixed. We need to find Hamsterviel soon." Lilo said. She ate her sandwich in one bite, swallowed it, and sighed. "But no one knows exactly where he is. No one knows Hamsterviel well enough to tell us where to start looking. All we know is that he's going to be here at some point." Lilo leaned against the wall. "Too bad we don't have someone who used to work with Hamsterviel a lot."

"Jumba." Stitch said, but Lilo shook her head.

"They haven't worked together for years. We would need someone more recent." Lilo racked her brains. After a few minutes, it dawned on her. "I know exactly who we need." Stitch looked at her, slightly confused. Lilo ran to the lift, and went down. "I'll tell you later Stitch." She called back. Stitch shrugged, and decided to lie down for a nap. However, he did not lie on the bed as usual, but walked over to the windowsill that Angel always slept at and fell asleep there.

Lilo ran down to Jumba's ship and ran to the com station. "Little girl, what is you doing?" Jumba asked, walking into the room.

"I'm going to try and find Hamsterviel." She replied. "And I would like to do it privately. I don't think you would… approve of who I'm going to get to help." Jumba shrugged and walked out of the room, and allowed Lilo to lock the door behind him. Going back to the station, she dialed in for the Council Woman on a secure channel.

"Lilo, what do you need?" She asked. _A little blunt, are we?_ Lilo thought.

"I need your permission to do something. I've been thinking, and we need someone who worked with Hamsterviel before to help us find him. I can only think of one person." Lilo said. The Council Woman was silent, before figuring out whom Lilo was referring to.

"I assume you want me to allow you access to talk to him, and also to cut a deal." Lilo nodded. The Council Woman thought for a minute. "All right, but you must deal with the original. Jumba says the others more than likely will not change. I am sending you the code now." A moment later, a beep told Lilo that she had received the code.

"How far am I allowed to go?" Lilo asked.

"As far as you deem necessary." The line closed, and Lilo sighed.

"That was the easy part." She said aloud. She quickly memorized the code, and typed it into the computer. Before she opened the line, she turned her hologram on. When the other end picked up, she saw the face of her only hope, a face that was not friendly to any experiment on the island:

Leroy's.

Lilo suppressed a shudder, and decided to let Leroy say something first.

"You must need something very important to call me." He said in Turan.

Lilo responded in the same language. "You're right, I do. The Galactic Alliance, through me, is willing to make you a deal. No strings attached."

"What would I get? I want out of this cell. Do you know how annoying it is to hear copies of myself complain day in and day out? I want freedom." He announced.

Lilo nodded. "We would be willing to trade you, and only you, complete freedom. You could go where you wished, and do whatever you want. No strings attached."

Leroy laughed. Lilo thought his voice was softer, closer to Stitch's, then before. Or was it her imagination? "Wow, you must need something done quite badly. What is it?"

"We want you to help us track down Dr. Jacque Van Hamsterviel. If you help us, and it leads to him being at the very least found, we will hold our end of the bargain." Leroy stroked his chin.

"Hamsterviel, huh? I've got a bone to pick with that gerbil. Fine. In return for my complete freedom, I will help you hunt him to the ends of the galaxy." He was silent for a moment. "I assume the Council Woman will put this in writing. I promise you nothing short of complete violence and chaos if you refuse to hold up your end."  
"The document will be written up shortly, and sent to you for review. It will then be signed and sealed in your presence. Is this adequate?"

Leroy nodded. "Perfectly. I await the chance to see you again. I assume very few people know about this."  
Lilo nodded. "At the moment, only you, the Council Woman, and I know. I will have to tell Jumba and Stitch, since they will end up releasing you into our custody. Once the document is signed, it shouldn't take you more then a few hours to get here. I expect you'll be here for dinner, in fact."

Leroy gave a fake laugh. "I bet that'll go over real well with the rest of your family."

"We can play catch up later. I'm sure you've had some fun in prison. And we have to bring you up to speed on what's going on here." Lilo said.

"That would be nice." _Nice? Since when did Leroy think something as nice?_ Lilo thought.

"Well, I had better contact the Council Woman and tell her. See you later." Leroy nodded, and the line disconnected. Lilo felt weird. She had thought that it was going to be difficult to talk to him, after everything that had happened. But he seemed to have changed a bit in jail. Was he turning good? Lilo wasn't sure, and contacted the Council Woman.

"What was the deal?"  
"He gets delivered to us. If his help leads us to finding Hamsterviel, he gets complete freedom, no strings attached. Leroy wants you to draw up a document saying what he gets. He also wants to review the document and have it signed in front of him." Lilo said.

The Council Woman sighed. "Did you have to?"

Lilo smiled. "Relax. I said freedom. I didn't say where he would be freed, or that he would have access to a ship."

The Council Woman smiled. "Have you ever thought of a career in politics? I'm sure that you would fit right in with the others. Very well, I will have the document drawn up, reviewed, signed, and he will be delivered to you by six o'clock tonight." The line disconnected, and Lilo breathed deeply, turning off her hologram in the process. _Now for the rest of the ohana._ She thought. She decided to talk to Stitch and Jumba first. Walking out of the room, she got Jumba to come up to her room with her. She saw Stitch sleeping on the windowsill, and woke him gently.

"Why is little girl needing 626 and evil genius?" Jumba asked.

"Hey guys, I have some good news and some bad news." Lilo said.

"Good news?" Stitch asked.

"I found someone who can help us track Hamsterviel. He used to work with him, and I was able to get in touch with him." Lilo said.

"Interesting. Who is this person?" Jumba asked.

"Well… you remember how I mentioned some bad news?"

Well, there is chapter two. Please read and review.


	3. Leroy

Disclaimer: I do not own Lilo and Stitch

Chapter 3: Leroy

As Lilo had expected, Jumba and Stitch were completely against the idea of bringing Leroy into the hunt for Hamsterviel. Surprisingly, Stitch was easier to convince then Jumba.

"Leroy was programmed to be devious." Jumba argued. "He will take any chance to turn tables in his favor and escape while getting his revenge. Is no way this will be ending with happy endings."

"Jumba, this is the only way that we can find Hamsterviel." Lilo said. "Without Leroy, we won't be able to find him until it is too late. I don't really like it too much either, but I can't see any other way. Can you?" Jumba said nothing. "Exactly. I set it up so that there is always someone watching him. At the first sign of trouble, we throw him back in prison with all his clone friends." Jumba gave her a scrutinizing look. "Come on Jumba, we need him. For better or for worse, he's our only chance of saving Skip and Reuben. At least give him a chance." Lilo gave Jumba a pleading look, and he sighed and ran his hand over his head.

"Fine, will be giving him chance. But I is warning you: there is no way this will end well. Someone is going to be hurt, and it will be someone close to you."

Lilo nodded. "I know. He won't be here for another… five hours or so. We have that much time to get ready for him. The Council Woman will drop him off down by the lighthouse, and we'll bring him back here and tell him what's been going on. As I said, I already worked out with some of the other experiments a watch schedule."

Jumba nodded, still worried. "If you will be excusing me. I have things to be securing so he cannot be taking them. Also, when experiment begins watch, I want them to be carrying a plasma cannon: it should be powerful enough to knock out Leroy. I want things to be as safe as possible." He went into another room, leaving Lilo and Stitch alone.

Lilo sighed. "What do you think Stitch: am I making the right choice?"

Stitch shrugged. "I don't know. I do think that Leroy is only chance of finding Hamsterviel quickly. What you think?"

Lilo was silent for a moment. "I don't know." She looked at Stitch. "Come on, let's go to the house and hang out. Once Leroy gets here, I don't think that we're going to get any time to just sit down." Stitch nodded, and they walked arm in arm back to the house, where they ran into Nani, who was packing a suitcase.

"Going somewhere?" Lilo asked.

"David and I finally agreed on a honeymoon spot. It took some time to plan it, but we finally figured it out. Jumba and Pleakly are going to baby-sit you for the next two weeks. Be good, and stay out of trouble, ok?"

Lilo smiled. "When are you leaving?"

"Ten minutes." Nani responded. "No offence Lilo, but could you please get out of my way? I don't want to ruin this. It only happens once, you know." Lilo nodded, and she and Stitch left Nani and went to their room.

When they got there, Lilo turned to Stitch. "Wow, this is going to be easier then I thought. Now I don't have to explain Leroy to Nani, and she'll be out of the way if Hamsterviel does anything."

"Don't people usually honeymoon right after they marry?" He asked.

Lilo nodded. "Usually. But then again, when has the ohana ever been normal or done things how they're usually done?"

Stitch smiled. "Never."

Lilo smiled back. "Not that I can think of either. We've always been different. But I always say that different is good. If we were all the same, we wouldn't have much fun, would we? Everyone would like the same thing, think the same, and it would be boring." They sat on the bottom bunk. "After Nani calls us down to say goodbye, then we should make sure everything is ready for Leroy. I don't want him to mess up our chances of finding Hamsterviel."

"He won't do anything until he get Hamsterviel. He want revenge, remember?" Stitch said.

"Yeah, but what about after that? What if he wants revenge against us?"

Stitch put his arm around her. "Then I protect you."

"Oh Stitch, what did I do to deserve your love and protection?" Lilo asked, as she snuggled close to Stitch.

"You protected and loved me. Now it my turn." He said. Lilo pulled away from him, only to come back and kiss him on the lips. He kissed back, and threw his other arm around her, keeping her in a tight hug as Lilo slid her arms around his neck. They didn't part until Nani called up that she was leaving. They ran to the lift and rode it down, finding Nani standing outside her room with three large suitcases.

"I've got to go." Nani said as she hugged them both. "We'll be gone for two weeks. There should be enough food here for that. If there isn't, I left some money sitting under my bed in a shoebox. If you run out of food and money, Stitch has been eating too much. Stay safe, be back before dark, and don't eat too much of Jumba's cooking."

"We'll be fine Nani. It's not like we're going to have criminals over for dinner." Lilo said. "Right Stitch?" Stitch nodded emphatically. "Everything will be ok. Could we invite Victoria over while you're gone?"

"Sure." Nani said. The doorbell rang, and it opened to reveal David. "David! I just need to get my stuff into the car, then we can go."

"Don't worry about it. I decided that we shouldn't drive your car and leave it there for a few weeks, so I took the liberty of arranging transportation." He said. They all looked around David, and they saw a limousine parked by the house. Nani was completely caught off guard.

"David! How… the money that cost! For us?" She asked, not quite making a lot of sense.

"Don't worry about it Nani, I took care of everything. Let's just get your bags and then we're off." He said. Nani looked at him, stepped close to him, and their lips met briefly.

"Do you have to do that in front of us Nani?" Lilo asked.

"Yes." Nani replied, a smile playing across her face.

A thought crossed Lilo's mind: a comeback, a serious one. She thought about it for a moment, and then decided to do it: she turned to Stitch, and planted her lips on his. They pulled apart after a few seconds, and Lilo turned back to Nani. "Fine, they we have to do it in front of you." David burst out with laughter, and Stitch followed soon after, also rolling around on the floor. Lilo expected Nani to yell at her and ground her: she didn't expect Nani to laugh along with them.

"I guess I deserved that." She said. "Come on David, let's grab the rest of the stuff and go." They grabbed her suitcases and walked to the Limo, Nani stopping at the door. "Remember Lilo: be good, home before dark, and make sure you use your hologram when you go out."

"Nani, stop worrying. The only trouble there might be is with Pleakly's cooking. We'll be ok, so just go and have some fun for once." Nani said, giving her sister a hug. Nani returned it, and then went to the limo. David came back to give one last look and to say goodbye.

"Don't worry Lilo, we'll be ok. Oh, and tell Jumba thanks for the help getting the limo. Just don't tell Nani." Lilo nodded, and David joined Nani in the limo. It rolled away, and Lilo watched it until it was out of sight. The moment it was she started cheering.

"Yes! She's gone! We can do whatever we want!" She yelled, closing the door. She ran to the phone and called Victoria. "Hey Victoria, can you come over? You can? Cool! See you soon!" She hung up the phone and went back to Stitch. "We can have a party, we can have your cousins over, whatever we want for two weeks." Stitch nodded. They decided to wait for Victoria before doing anything, because she only lived a few minutes away. Lilo decided to turn her hologram on, just in case someone came over with Victoria. Just as she flicked it on, the bell rang: it was Victoria, who also had her hologram on.

"Hey Lilo! My parents are out shopping, so I could come right over." She said.

Lilo stepped aside so she could come in, and then closed the door behind her. "Nani went on a honeymoon with David, so we basically have the house to ourselves. Did you tell your parents yet about your… change?" Lilo asked, deactivating her hologram.

Victoria deactivated hers. "No, not yet. I'm not really sure how to tell them that their daughter is now an alien. I somehow think that that won't go over very well with them. What do you think?"

Lilo shrugged. "You're probably right. Probably shouldn't say anything until you have to. You never know what they might do." They were silent for a moment. "Come on, let's go play some games." For the next few hours, they hung out, played games, ate snacks, and, in Lilo and Stitch's case, kissed. The kissing is what brought a question to Victoria's mind.

"Hey Lilo, when I want to start dating, am I going to have to go out with an experiment?"

Lilo shrugged. "I don't think it really matters, as long as you like the person you're going out with. If you decided an experiment, I could probably get you two together for a first date if you wanted. If it were a normal person, you would be on your own. I never had a date with a normal person, so I wouldn't know the first thing about it. You could always ask Nani or your mom. They should know how it works."

Victoria nodded. "So, it doesn't really matter?"

"Well, not for dating. If you want to get married to a normal person, well… that would probably have a few more issues involved, if you know what I mean." Lilo said. They were about to continue their conversation, when Jumba called them.

"Lilo, 626, he will be arriving soon." Jumba called.

Lilo groaned. "I completely forgot about him. Come on Stitch, we need to get going."

"Can I come too?" Victoria asked.

Lilo thought for a moment. "Sure. You're more apart of our ohana now, so you should know what's going on. Especially since Skip was your friend and all." They ran out to Jumba's ship, where they met him by the door.

"Grand Council Woman says she will teleport him in five minutes. Once he is here, he is being our responsibility." He said. He glanced nervously over his shoulder. "You can still call this off if you want."

Lilo activated her hologram. "No, we need him. Let's go get ready; Stitch has first watch over him." As they walked into the ship, Victoria tapped Lilo's shoulder.

"Who's coming?" She asked.

"Leroy." Lilo responded.

"Should I put my hologram on? Will he attack us?" Victoria asked, fear coming into her voice.

"You don't need to use your hologram. I am because Leroy knows me, and I don't want him to know what's happened to me; at least not yet. As for him attacking us, I don't think he will. We made a deal with him: if he finds Hamsterviel, we let him go free. So he won't attack us until after Hamsterviel is found." Lilo said.

"Two minutes to teleport." The computer timer said. Jumba disappeared through a door, coming back and tossing a plasma cannon to Stitch.

"Should be ready for him. He will try something, I know it." Jumba said.

"Jumba thinks we're doing the wrong thing." Lilo whispered in Victoria's ear. "I think he's a chicken." Victoria stifled a chuckle, as the computer rang out the sixty second warning. They waited as the computer counted down from sixty. When it hit zero, there was a flash of light from the transporter, and someone appeared on it:

Leroy.

Lilo looked him up and down: apart from the cuffs on his for arms and the missing captain suit, Leroy looked just like he had when they had originally carted him off to prison, except that his ears were smooth like Stitch's, instead of the odd shape they used to be. Lilo really wished he would fix his teeth, but then wondered if they stayed that yellow because of the programming. Lilo decided to make things easier and just talk in Turan.

"Leroy, long time no see." Lilo said.

"I see myself even without a mirror. And I hear myself far too much." He said.

Lilo nodded. "I'm sure living with a couple thousand of yourself will do that to you. Come here and we'll take those cuffs off." Leroy stepped up to her, and noticed Stitch was growling dangerously and had raised the plasma cannon slightly.

"Still don't trust me cuz? I understand. But I want Hamsterviel, not a little girl." He said. When Lilo removed the cuffs, he immediately put his extra arms away, now looking slightly normal. "Hey, am I allowed to change my fur color? I'm getting really tired of this one; besides, they wouldn't let me change it in jail because it would be a 'security violation'."

"You actually listened to them?" Lilo asked.

"They said if we didn't, they'd throw us in giant cell together. No one wanted that: we hate each other too much. Besides, the girls would get picked on."

"Girls?" Lilo asked, confused.

"Yeah, girls. Apparently, during the cloning process, some things got switched around with the genetics, and some of them ended up as chicks. Sucks to be them. I'm the original, so I'm completely safe from those screw-ups. Lucky lucky me." He said.

"Let's talk about it in the house, where we can sit down." Lilo said. "Let's go." As they started walking, Leroy slipped on a wet spot on the floor. Just before he hit the ground, though, Victoria caught him. Leroy looked up at her; surprised that someone had done something nice for him.

"Watch your step." She said.

Leroy's mouth dropped open. _I've never seen her before. Is she one of Jumba's experiments_? Leroy thought. _I've never seen anyone so beautiful before_. He could think of nothing to say to her other then "Thanks." She helped him up, and they all walked back to the house. Leroy was confused: no had ever helped him do anything before, and here was someone he didn't even know doing something for him. They went into the house and shut the door behind them. They sat around the room: Lilo, Stitch, and Victoria on the couch, Jumba in an armchair, and Leroy brought in a chair from the kitchen to sit on.

"So, here we are." Lilo said. "We need to bring you up to speed on what's gone on so far. I doubt you have anything of interest to tell us."

"You're right there. Nothing but a jail cell for me." Leroy said. Lilo nodded, and launched into her story. She gave him all the major details of what had happened in the past seven months concerning Hamsterviel. She told most of it, but not the part of her being an experiment, Skipper originally being human, the love going on (Angel/Skipper and Lilo/Stitch), and the part about Kristy. She figured that these either didn't matter, or it was safer not to let him know: if he did go out for vengeance, she didn't want to tell him more then he needed to know. He soaked in the information, not moving an inch the entire time. When Lilo finished, he leaned back in the chair and put his hands behind his head.

"So, you want me to try and track him." He thought for a minute. "I know of one or two locations that he might be hiding out in, but I can't be certain. We can start tomorrow if you want." He said.

"Why not now?" Stitch asked.

"I've been up for over three days, and I've been riding on a ship for the last few hours: I need some rest. I'm also kind of hungry. Since I have to go on your schedule, I'm not going to make any demands."

"Why don't you go take a quick nap? We can eat in a couple of hours." Lilo said. "You can use the bedroom down the hall. When you wake up, we'll cook something up."

"Ok. See you in a few hours." Leroy said. He stood up and walked down the hall to Nani's room. Before he went into the room, he called back "About my fur color…"

"What color do you want to change it to?" Lilo called back.

Leroy thought for a moment. "I was thinking a dark tan."

"Fine. Just don't change it without asking again." Leroy went into the room and closed the door behind him. He closed his eyes and concentrated; his fur changed from the rust red to a dark tan. He smiled to himself, and then went to the bed. He reached into his mouth, down his throat, and pulled out a small container.

"Good thing I can't digest this." He said quietly. He opened it up and pulled out a communicator. He put in the number, and waited for someone to pick up.

"Who is bothering me with a call?"

"Dr. Hamsterviel, it's Leroy."

"How did you escape from prison?"

"That doesn't matter. Right now, I am at the little girl's house and they want me to find you so they can kill you and rescue their friends."

"Good! Take them to the hideout on Raaro. I will have an ambush ready for them. Stay there, and once you have confirmed that they are destroyed, meet me at Klimno. I will be waiting for you there."

"What kind of ambush do you have in mind?"

"Oh, let's just say that they are… acquainted with their attacker. Just make sure that you don't get caught as well."

"Roger. We'll be there tomorrow around noon. After I confirm their destruction, I'll meet you. Leroy out." He clicked off the communicator, put it back in the case, sealed it, and swallowed it.

"If you seriously think I trust you gerbil boy, you are seriously mistaken." Leroy said to himself. "No doubt Klimno is just another trap, only to get rid of me." He yawned loudly. "Might as well get some sleep." He crawled onto the bed, and was asleep within seconds.

Well, there is the third chapter. I hope you have enjoyed them so far. Please review!


	4. Good or Evil

Disclaimer: I do not own Lilo and Stitch.

Chapter 4 is here. Please read and review it and the rest of the story.

Chapter 4: Good or Evil?

While Leroy was sleeping, Victoria, Stitch, and Lilo were still sitting where they had for the meeting. They were talking about various subjects when Victoria suddenly asked, "Why do you hate Leroy?" Lilo was confused, until she realized that Victoria had never known about the epic battle they had had with the Leroys.

"Well, what happened was a few years ago." Lilo started. She then launched into the story of how the Leroys had all started out, the battle, and everything in between (A/N Basically, everything that happens in Leroy and Stitch).

"So, he was going to kill all of you?" Victoria asked. Lilo and Stitch nodded. Victoria pondered it for a moment.

"How can someone so evil be so cute?" She asked out loud. This caused Lilo and Stitch's mouths to drop open with surprise. Victoria glanced at them. "What?"

"How can you think that that evil monster is cute?" Lilo asked.

"How could you think Stitch was cute when he was an evil little monster?" Victoria retorted. "Besides, isn't he practically the exact same as Stitch in looks?" Lilo opened her mouth to respond, but she couldn't think of anything to say. It was true that when Stitch was destroying things that she had found him slightly irresistible. And Leroy looked almost exactly like Stitch, except for the teeth.

"But Stitch is good now! Leroy is still evil." Lilo said.

"How can you be sure?" Victoria asked. There discussion was interrupted by a knock on the door. Stitch glanced out the window.

"Kixx!" He exclaimed. He opened the door and ushered the experiment in.

"Leroy here?" Kixx asked.

Stitch nodded. "Yeah." He turned to Lilo. "Kixx has first watch." He turned around and handed the plasma cannon to Kixx. "He's in Nani's room. Just don't let him see you if you can." Kixx nodded and walked down the hall.

"So, what are we going to do until he wakes up?" Lilo asked.

"Let's find Angel." Stitch said.

"Yeah." Victoria said. "If we're going to rescue them, she should be along."

Lilo agreed. "Let's go. Just make sure Gantu and Cobra don't know where we're going. If they find out, we're going to get in really big trouble." She warned.

"Not a word!" Victoria promised. They walked out the door and down the steps.

"Where do we start?" Lilo asked, looking around. Stitch sniffed the air around them, searching for Angle's scent. It took him a few minutes to find it.

"This way!" He called. They followed him across the island, sometimes having to double back. Eventually, they found her sitting on the far eastern end of the island, sitting on a cliff edge over looking the sea. Not wanting to scare her, Stitch called out her name when they were still a fair distance off. When they finally reached her, she stood up, still looking out at the sea.

"Angel, we think we can find Skip." Lilo said. This got Angel's attention, and she turned swiftly on the spot.

"How?" She asked.

Lilo sighed, wondering if Angel would disagree with their methods. "Well, we found… someone who might be able to find him. He needs to rest tonight, and then we go looking for him tomorrow."

"Who did you find?" Angel asked. Lilo grimaced, and the other two stood shuffling their feet. ""Well, who is it?" Angel asked, louder this time.

"Leroy." Lilo answered. Angel hissed at the name.

"Do we have to use him?"

Lilo nodded. "He's the only one I can think of that will know where Hamsterviel hides out. I don't like it much either, but it's the only way to find Reuben and Skip before Hamsterviel sets up some evil plan using them as bait or something." They stood there silently for a minute. "Come on, let's go back. We'll eat in a few hours, so you can take a quick nap." Lilo put her arm around Angel's shoulder, and the four of them walked back to the house. When they got there, they saw Cobra pulling up.

"Stitch, go around back and sneak in." Lilo whispered. He slipped off around the house just as Cobra was getting out of the car. "Hey Cobra. What are you here for?" Lilo asked.

"The Grand Council Woman contacted me: she said that you had taken temporary custody of Leroy." He said.

"He's here to help us find Skip. If he does, he isn't in anybody's custody." Lilo said.

"That doesn't matter. I assume Stitch is watching him."

"Of course he is!" Victoria said. "We wouldn't leave him by himself."

"Good." Cobra said. They started walking up the stairs to the house. "Leroy is considered a threat level of Black, so I will be accompanying you on any search you make."

Lilo was agitated, but she didn't show it. She didn't want, or need for that matter, Cobra looking over her shoulder while they looked. She could live with Pleakly, and Jumba would have to come, but she drew the line at Cobra. However, she knew that if she didn't agree, that she would never get out of Cobra's sight. "That's fine." She said. "We could always use someone else to help us out." They went into the house and sat down. "He's sleeping right now, and we're going to eat when he gets up. I assume you want to eat with us. I think Jumba is cooking tonight, so we should be fine… mostly."

"I would also like to sleep here as well, if that isn't an issue." Cobra said.

Lilo was getting more annoyed by the moment. Cobra was invading her life and her privacy, all for his convenience. "Fine." She said, more angrily then she wanted to. "Do you want to chain me down, or just put a tracking device on me?" This outburst caused everyone in the room to stare at her in surprise. It took her a few seconds to realize what she had said, and when she did, her eyes started to water and she ran off to her room.

"Let me talk to Lilo." Stitch said. He ran off in pursuit, only to find the lift off. Undaunted, he started trying to climb the walls; until he remembered that he couldn't do that anymore. He pulled open the control panel, and with a few swift changes, had it working again. He rode the lift up, and saw Lilo was lying on her bed, crying.

"Lilo ok?" He asked.

Lilo looked up at him, her fur wet from the steady stream of tears. "Oh Stitch, I can feel her. She's just outside, waiting for me to accidentally let her back in." She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest, while Stitch slowly stroked her head.

"Lilo too strong to let her in. Besides, once we free Skipper, Jumba will have device to help." Stitch said.

Lilo smiled and hugged him tight. "I love you Stitch. Don't ever change." He smiled and hugged her tightly also.

"Naga change." He agreed.

Lilo yawned. "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me for dinner, ok?" Stitch let her go so she could lie down.

"I will." He said. Taking the lift back down, he decided not to say anything about her fears to the others.

"Is she ok?" Angel asked.

Stitch nodded. "She just resting. Wake her later." For the next few hours, they just hung around, doing nothing in particular; everyone's thoughts were in other places. Stitch was thinking of Lilo, Angel of Skipper, Victoria of Leroy, and Cobra of all of them. No one said a work until Jumba came in to start cooking dinner.

"Have decided to be making pizza that is being oven cooked. How many will be eating?" He asked.

Cobra thought for a moment. "You, me, Pleakly, Lilo, Stitch, Victoria, Angel, Leroy, and whoever is guarding him. That's nine total, but 6 experiments with bottomless stomachs."

Jumba nodded. "Will be heating… six pizzas then." He shuffled off to the kitchen, and the house was soon filled with the aroma of cooking pizza. Stitch decided it was time to wake Lilo and Leroy. He decided to wake Lilo first. He took the lift up to her room, and shook her gently.

"Boogee boo, it almost dinner." He said.

Lilo yawned. "Give me a minute. I'll wake Leroy when I get up." Stitch retrieved her holo emitters from the table and handed them to her. When she had them activated, she and Stitch headed down the lift to Leroy's room. Lilo knocked on the door, and Kixx opened it.

"He's awake. He'll be out soon." Kixx said. Lilo thanked him, and then she and Stitch headed back to the crowd. Five minutes later, Pleakly walked in the door, just as Jumba was coming out with the pizzas.

"Will be splitting up for space purposes. Agent man, noodle, Angel, and myself will be eating here. Other, slightly messier people, will be eating in the kitchen, where cleaning is easy."

"That's easy for you to say!" Pleakly said. "Do you know how hard it is to get a pizza sauce stain off the wall or table?"

"Do not know, and really do not care." Jumba said as he set two of the pizzas in their room, handing the other four to Stitch. "Enjoy meal." They entered the kitchen, just as Leroy and Kixx were coming in. The five of them sat around the table, and Lilo dolled out a few pieces to everyone. Leroy started to waffle his down, until he received a hit on the back of the head from Kixx. (A/N Everything said between the experiments is in Turan here.)

"Mind your manners around the girls!" He scolded. Leroy growled, but proceeded to eat his pizza more slowly, and with his mouth closed more then open.

"So Leroy, where do you think Hamsterviel is hiding?" Lilo asked.

Leroy was about to answer, but after a warning glare from Kixx, decided to swallow what was in his mouth before answering. "Well, from what I know, he has three main hideouts: Raaro, Klimno, and Arnon. I would assume he is hiding out at Raaro; it's not the most secure base, but it is the most secret of them. After that, I would guess Klimno, then Arnon."

Stitch thought for a moment. "I've heard of Raaro: isolated, uninhabited, and nothing of value on the planet. Easy not to be discovered."

"What about the other two?" Lilo asked.

"Arnon is an asteroid; it's always moving. If he has a base there, he probably has a way of partly controlling the trajectory of the asteroid."

"And Klimno?" Victoria asked.

Stitch shrugged. "I haven't heard of it. Probably far, far away."

"So, when do we move?" Leroy asked.

Lilo thought for a moment. "Tonight. Once they are all asleep, the four of us, and Angel of course, will sneak out and take the ship. We'll find Hamsterviel, rescue Skip and Reuben, and be back before Nani is back from her honeymoon."

"Cobra won't like it." Victoria said.

"I know. But with Cobra looking over our shoulder, we won't get anything done. Now who's with me?" She put her hand in the middle of the table.

Stitch put his on top. "I'm in."

Victoria followed. "I'll do it."

Leroy put his on top, blushing slightly at the feel of Victoria's hand. "Sure."

Kixx added his on the pile. "And I'll try and cover for you guys while you're gone."

"Thanks Kixx." Lilo said. "So, at midnight, Stitch will search the house. If it's safe, he'll get us, and we'll head to the ship. Once we take off, they can't get us back." They all nodded, and they removed their hands from the pile. "Now, let's finish this pizza."

**Midnight**

Stitch padded slowly around the house. Thankfully, there was no moon out, so only he would be able to see. He first checked on Jumba and Pleakly: they were in their room, sound asleep. However, Cobra was the one he had to worry about. He inched into the living room, and saw Cobra fast asleep on the couch. However, knowing his personality, the smallest noise could wake him. He crawled back to the lift and took it up, where everyone else was waiting.

"We're good to go. We'll have to use the back door." Stitch whispered.

Kixx nodded. "I'll go hang out with Sparky for a few days. I left a note saying that Leroy was with you guys, checking the island out. That should give you some time." After thanking him, Stitch led them down the lift and to the back door. Using his ears, he checked the house for any sounds that they had woken anyone. Hearing nothing, he cracked the back door open. Leroy climbed up the wall, and look around the door.

"Doesn't look like he put an alarm on it. Open it." He whispered. Stitch opened the door, and in moments, they were out and headed in their own directions: Kixx to the lighthouse, and Lilo, Stitch, Angel, Leroy, and Victoria to the ship.

Once they got inside, Stitch ran up and started the pre-launch checks. The other four sat in the back: Lilo and Angel sat on one side by each other, and Victoria and Leroy sat on the other.

"Landing ramp up." Stitch's voice came over the intercom. "The engines might wake them, so buckle up and prepare for a rough takeoff." Everyone strapped themselves in, and Lilo heard the engines starting up. She knew that it was only a few moments before the sound would wake up Cobra. "Here we go!" Stitch said.

"Do we have the speed?" Angel asked.

Lilo shrugged as the ship started trying to get off the ground. "Stitch thinks it does." The ship rose a few feet in the air, and crashed back to earth. On the next try, Stitch managed to get it flying. He aimed for the ocean, as the ship was only fifty feet off the ground. As the engines continued to speed up, the ship moved faster and Stitch quickly moved the ship higher. When they were going fast enough, he broke through the atmosphere, and they were on their way.

After a few minutes, Leroy yawned. "We probably won't be there for a couple of hours." He said. "We should probably rest for whatever Hamsterviel has for us."

"I'll be fine." Stitch called from the cockpit. "You guys get some rest, and I'll keep the ship going straight."

"Yeah, we really should get some sleep." Lilo said. She leaned her seat back, and was asleep within moments. Angel wanted to get some sleep, but was too preoccupied with thoughts of Skipper. Leroy laid his head against the wall and fell asleep. Victoria had never been on the ship before, and the excitement kept her up. However, it soon wore off, and she too fell asleep.

After about an hour, Leroy woke up. He was unsure why, until he glanced over at Victoria: she was asleep and her head was leaning against his side. He blushed as he felt her soft breathing against his body. However, when he looked more closely at her, he realized that she was shivering. _She's not used to space_. He thought. His first instinct was to leave her and go back to sleep; but, he couldn't. He groaned, and glanced over at the others. Lilo was sleeping, Stitch was driving the ship, and Angel… he couldn't quite tell: she was either sleeping, or deep in thought. With a few quick movements, he reached under his seat, pulled out a blanket, spread it over her, and tucked it around her. When he finished he glanced back at the others: they hadn't moved an inch. He turned back and put his head back against the window. Glancing back, he saw that Victoria, still asleep, was now smiling. He felt her wrap her arms around his waist, and he blushed a very deep shade of magenta.

_How can you lead them into a trap_? A voice in his head asked. _She knows what you've done, and she still trusts you._  
A darker voice entered his thoughts. _So? They probably plan on turning on you anyway. Hit them before they hit you._

_Why? What has she done to you?_

Leroy groaned. _Fine. I'll save her. The others can go to hell._ He thought.

_That's the spirit_! The dark voice congratulated.

_They trust you! They think you've changed_! The other voice said. However, Leroy was too tired to argue with himself.

"Damn conscience." He said to himself. Moments later he was back asleep. However, someone had seen and heard everything.

Angel had been trying to get to sleep, but images of Skipper and the dream she had continued to pop into her head. She saw Victoria leaning against Leroy, both fast asleep. She thought for a moment of moving her, but decided against it. She had tossed and turned for a bit, until she saw through partially opened eyes that Leroy was awake. Afraid she had woken him up, or, worse, he was trying do something evil, she stopped moving. She saw Leroy glance at Victoria. That's when Angel realized that Victoria was shivering: probably from the cold. She mentally growled, sure that Leroy was going to smile at her discomfort and go back to sleep. He glanced around the room, and Angel was caught off guard as Leroy put a blanket around Victoria. She saw him blushing deeply, and wanted to smile, but didn't want Leroy to know she had seen. She saw him turn back to the window, and before he fell asleep, Angel heard him say, "Damn conscience." Baffled, she waited until she was sure he was sleeping, and then went up to the cockpit.

"Angel, you should be sleeping." Stitch said.

"I can't. I keep thinking of Skipper." She said. She sat down in the copilot seat. "Stitch, are you sure Leroy is still evil?"

Stitch sighed. "I don't know. I think he is, but I also think that it's not impossible for him to change. Why do you ask?" Angel told him what she had seen and heard. Stitch thought for a moment. "Well, I'm not a psychiatrist, but if I had to guess, I would say Leroy is trying to change. Right now, he is still out only for himself, and will turn on us in the end. But, I think that Victoria is changing his mind. Everyone who knows what he's done hates and fears him, and he knows this. I think he uses it, too. However, then he ran into Victoria, someone who knows what he did, but doesn't care. She treats him as an equal, something no one has ever done, and this is causing his heart and his programming to conflict."

Angel nodded thoughtfully. "You could be right." She yawned. "I think I'll go try to get some sleep. How long until we get there?"

Stitch checked the readings. "Three hours or so. Go sleep." She walked back, and glanced back in the doorway. She saw Stitch was leaning back in his chair, obviously thinking, and fingering the sword next to the seat.

_Hope he doesn't have to use it_. Angel thought. She walked back to her seat, leaned it back, and closed her eyes. She fell asleep quickly, her last thoughts on Skipper. _We'll find you soon, boogee boo._

Well, there's the chapter. Please review and tell me what you think.

I have decided to prioritize this story over Vampiric Link, which I am writing right now also. So, if I have little time, this story will come first.


	5. Encounter

Disclaimer: I do not own Lilo and Stitch.

Chapter 5: Encounter

When they were getting close to Hamsterviel's hideout, Stitch woke everyone up via the intercom. Lilo and Angel, the light sleepers, woke up instantly. They unbuckled went to wake Victoria and Leroy.

"Hey, where did Victoria get the blanket?" Lilo asked.

Angel decided not to relate to Lilo what she had seen. "Who knows; probably not from Leroy. He probably would have moved if he had woken, since she's leaning on him. Let's wake her first." They gently shook Victoria until she awoke. She was surprised to find herself under a blanket, and not only leaning on Leroy, but had wrapped her arms around him. However, since Lilo and Angel could not see her arms, she decided not to say anything about that part.

"Who put the blanket on me?" Victoria asked.

"Wasn't us." Lilo said. "Probably Stitch." Victoria sat up and put the blanket under her seat, while Lilo woke Leroy. "Come on Leroy, wake up. Otherwise, we'll take on Hamsterviel ourselves." After a shake or two, Leroy yawned and took his head off the wall. He immediately started rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

"Chutah! Now my neck is cramped." He said.

"Here, turn and face the wall." Victoria said. Leroy did as he was told, and Victoria started massaging his neck. "A little trick I picked up back home." She explained. Leroy moaned as the pain in his neck quickly receded, and it turned to a warm, fuzzy feeling. After a few more minutes, Victoria stopped, and Angel went and sat back down, while Lilo went to the cockpit to see Stitch.

"Hey Stitch, how much longer?" Lilo asked.

"Two or three minutes." He answered.

"Hey, did you by any chance cover Victoria with a blanket while she was sleeping?"

Stitch thought for a moment. "Naga." Lilo nodded and walked back out. _Well, if I didn't do it, Stitch didn't, Angel didn't, and Victoria didn't, then it was Leroy. But why would he put a blanket over Victoria? If she were cold, wouldn't he want her to suffer_? She thought to herself. She sat down in her seat, and Stitch's voice broke through her thoughts.

"We're there. Please fasten seatbelts and prepare for a landing."

"What do you mean '_a _landing'?" Angel called up.

"Meaning I'm no airline pilot. All I really do is make sure I land on solid ground. Other then that, the stabilizers will minimize any damage." He called back. Angel passed a worried look to Lilo, who passed it to Leroy and Victoria, and they all quickly fastened their seatbelts. Lilo looked out the window: below them sat a large, orange planet. Lilo guessed by the color that most of the planet was a desert. The ship went through the atmosphere and went down quickly.

"Do you know where the base is?" Lilo called up.

"I have a large building on scanners." Stitch answered. "I bet that's it." They continued their decent, finally landing with a soft thud on the ground. Lilo immediately unbuckled and hit Stitch playfully on the shoulder.

"And you told us it was going to be rough." She said.

"Let's get going." Stitch said. The five of them walked down the ramp. Stitch pulled out a remote, sent the pad back up, and locked it. "The building is about half a mile that way." Stitch said, pointing northward. They trekked away from the ship, Leroy in the middle, thinking of a way to ditch everyone but Victoria. As they drew near the building, Stitch used his vision to enhance it. "I don't see any cameras. Let's move quickly." They set off at a jog, the sword continuously bouncing off of Stitch's back in its sheath. Once at the buildings side, the five of them pressed against the wall, sliding around to the front door. Leroy, who had ended up front, gave the door a quick look.

"Reinforced steel, three heavy bolts on the other side, no security: should be no problem." He and Stitch set themselves on each side of the door, and with a grunt, pulled it free from hinges and bolts. The tossed it behind them, and slowly moved into the hideout. After a few minutes of travel, Stitch started relaxing slightly.

"Being hard to find made Hamsterviel forget security I guess." He said. They continued through the building, searching room after room for their elusive opponent. They searched the first floor, the second floor, the third floor, and were at the top of the stairs to the top floor.

"Whew, I didn't realize this place was so big!" Victoria said, leaning against the wall to catch her breath.

Lilo leaned on the wall next to her. "Let's take a quick break guys. We're almost done anyway."

_I know, which means the trap awaits you on the top floor_. Leroy thought. _I'll send them ahead if I can_. Leroy leaned against the wall, attempting to appear out of breath. "You three go on ahead." He said to Stitch, Lilo, and Angel. "We're the ones that need to catch our breath."

"You do?" Lilo asked.

"Being in jail for a couple years has thrown me out of shape." He saw Lilo hesitating. "Come on, we'll be fine. Right Victoria?"

Victoria nodded. "We'll be fine. Either we'll catch up to you, or you'll be back for us."

Something told Lilo that Leroy was up to something, but tossed the feeling away. "Fine. If we miss each other, we'll call." Victoria nodded, and she and Leroy sat down, while Lilo, Stitch, and Angel went up the stairs.

"You trust him?" Angel asked.

Lilo shrugged. "So far, I have no reason not to. Besides, Victoria can take care of herself." The first door they opened went into what appeared to be the dining room; tables and chairs littered the floor across one wall, leaving most of the room wide open.

"Odd set up for eating." Angel remarked.

Stitch nodded. "Let's be careful." They walked into the room slowly, on their guard. Stitch pointed across the room. "There's the door to the rest of the floor." He said. Just as he finished, the lights dimmed and the door behind them slammed shut.

"How foolish of you to come here. And I thought you were supposed to be a genius." A taunting voice rang out.

_That voice is familiar_. Stitch thought. _Where have I heard it_?

"Hamsterviel was right: you weren't able just to stay away and accept the loss of Reuben. Now you will pay."

"Show yourself!" Stitch yelled. Lilo deactivated her hologram, ready to fight.

"You want to fight? Ha! How foolish of you. However, if you really wish to throw away your life, so be it." The figure stepped out of the shadows. Stitch saw that it had the other sword in its right hand. As the light hit the figure's face, the trio gasped as they saw whom it was:

Skipper.

Angel ran and threw herself on Skipper. "Skipper! I'm so glad we finally found you!" Before she could continue, Skipper yanked her off and threw her bodily across the room.

Lilo looked aghast. "Skipper, why would you do that?"

"Why? Because I'm evil; I always have been. Now, are you going to fight or stand and die?" He asked.

Stitch turned to Lilo. "Whatever Hamsterviel's done, he's wiped his mind clean. He doesn't remember anything about us. Fighting him is the only way to get out of this." Angel walked slowly and unsteadily back to them.

"Just don't kill him." She pleaded. "The Skipper we know is somewhere inside. We just have to find it."

Lilo nodded. "Just like when Stitch had his brain polarity switched. I found him."

Stitch glanced back at Skipper, who held his sword loosely at his side. "I think it might be a little harder with him." Stitch glanced around. "When you can, get out the door and get Leroy and Victoria."

"I won't leave you Stitch." Lilo said. Stitch nodded, and turned to face Skipper.

"You really want to fight?" Stitch asked. He drew the sword from the scabbard and held it in his right hand. Even though he had never used it before, it felt like he knew everything about it, as if it were an old friend.

Skipper laughed, smiling maliciously. "You really want to die? Don't worry; I won't kill you if I beat you. At least, not right away. I'll make sure to kill Lilo in front of your eyes, so you can hear her screams as she dies." The last sentence struck home on Stitch. Stitch's eyes turned hard, and with a yell of anger, charged Skipper with the sword held high. Skipper's smile widened, and he charged back. They met in the middle of the room with a loud clang: the duel had begun.

As Lilo and Angel watched the duo, they were amazed; the battle raged almost faster then the eye could see. High, low, the swords were everywhere at once. Lilo turned to Angel. "I've been thinking about what Skipper said at the beginning, and I seriously wonder if he really _is _in there." Angel nodded in agreement, and their eyes shifted back to the dueling pair.

Stitch was starting to get annoyed. He would jump the sword, and swing high, only to find a sword waiting for him. He would duck or dodge and try for the advantage, only to find himself at a disadvantage. He growled, as his attempts were thwarted at every turn. Soon, Stitch was starting to find it difficult to keep up with Skipper's pace. His opponent seemed to have an unlimited amount of endurance, while he was running out. He started glancing around, trying to find an advantage. An idea came to mind: crazy, but it was probably his only chance. Hopefully, Lilo would act like he planned. When Skipper swung again, Stitch moved his sword with the blow, sending Skipper out of his stance. Stitch turned, and ran straight at the wall. Skipper recovered quickly, and charged after him.

"Stitch!" Lilo yelled. "You can't climb walls anymore!" Stitch smiled grimly. All that was left was the hard part.

"You going to run through the wall?" Skipper taunted. "I wouldn't try it. Stand and die!" Stitch drew closer and closer to the wall. Right as he got to it, he ran up it. Just as gravity started to kick in, he kicked off the wall and flipped in the air. He heard Skipper run into the wall. Stitch landed behind him, and started attacking. Skipper was now solely on the defensive. Stitch used every ounce of skill, speed, and strength, stepping up the difficulty. Lilo stared in awe as the swords moved faster then the eye could see. The only way she knew they were still swinging was from the flurry of clangs. Suddenly, Skipper's sword flew out of his hands, and buried up to its hilt in the ceiling. In a flash, Stitch had his sword at Skipper's throat.

"Do you yield?" He asked.

Skipper laughed. "You may have won this battle, but Hamsterviel and I will win in the end."

"How do you plan on escaping?" Stitch asked.

"I may not be able to climb walls, but I have had an improvement." Skipper said. He smacked the sword on the flat with his palm, rolled out and jumped into the air. Just as he did, something shot out of his back. It took Stitch a moment to realize what it was:

Two large, fur covered wings.

Stitch was lost for words: the wings looked like a bats, except for the purple and black fur covering them. Skipper flew straight at the sword. He wrapped his hands around the hilt, and used his momentum to drive the sword through the rest of the ceiling; in a moment, he was gone.

"We lost him again." Angel said, tears pouring from her eyes. Lilo held her close and sighed.

"Come on Stitch. Let's go make sure the other two are ok." She said. Half carrying Angel, she walked to Stitch, who sheathed his sword and followed them. They went down the stairs, and saw Leroy and Victoria sitting there at the bottom.

"Find him?" Victoria asked.

"We were ambushed." Lilo said. Victoria gasped in surprise. Leroy grimaced, hoping no one would look at him. However, Stitch was watching him closely.

"You son of a bitch!" Stitch yelled. He grabbed Leroy by the throat and slammed him into the wall. "You knew! You knew about the ambush!"

"Stitch!" Lilo said. "Stop it!"

"He knew!" Stitch yelled, not taking eyes or hands off of Leroy. "This bastard knew!" Leroy tried to say something, but he was unable to breath due to Stitch's hands around his throat.

"Stitch, let him explain!" Victoria pleaded. Stitch loosened his grip enough to allow Leroy to breath. After several gasps, Leroy spoke.

"When I got out of jail, I called Hamsterviel. I knew that one way or another, he would tell me where he was hiding. He told me to lure you here and have you ambushed, then to go to Klimno."

"So he's hiding on Klimno?" Angel asked.

Leroy shook his head. "I doubt it. My guess is that he knows that I would be out for revenge, and that place is a trap also."

"Why would you lead us into a trap?" Victoria asked.

"Because I knew he was going to send someone you knew. The way he talked to me about the ambush, it was obvious. I was hoping you would be able to turn or kill whoever came. I don't want Hamsterviel to know what's going on until he has to."

"So, what do you have planned?" Lilo asked him.

"We go to Klimno. I go in alone, and spring his trap. Live or die, he'll think that he's safe, and he'll let his guard down."

"Where do you think our friends are?" Stitch asked.

"My guess is that whoever is helping him comes and goes at his base on Arnon. He likes to be left alone. The prisoners are probably on this planet. This is his base; the prison is on the other side. He used the transporters to get from one to the other."

Stitch let him go and turned to the others. "Do you trust him? Because I sure as hell don't."

Lilo sighed. "I don't know. He has no reason to lie anymore. Any chance of ditching us is gone now. What do you think Victoria?"

Victoria looked Leroy in the eye for a long moment. "I think he's telling us all of the truth now."

Stitch nodded. "That settles it." He dragged Leroy to the group. "Cuz, you have one more chance. We're going to rest, and then hit Klimno. I checked the map, and it's about an hour jump out. Then we hit the prison, and then we go to Arnon. There, we finish it once and for all." Everyone nodded. "Let's head back to the ship and sleep for a bit." Arm in arm, the five companions walked down the flights of stairs and back to the ship. When Stitch went up to the cockpit, he saw a message waiting for him. He flipped it on.

"Stitch, this is Cobra." The recording said. Stitch grimaced as it continued. "Nosy told me your plans, and I insist you return here immediately. You are putting yourself and others in grave danger. If you aren't back in 24 hours, I will alert the Grand Council Woman, and she will deal with you as she sees fit." The message ended. Stitch groaned and glanced at the message time and the real time: they had 18 hours left. He decided that the others didn't need to know about this part yet. He went back to where the others were; they were setting up sleeping bags around the floor. He grabbed one and set it down between Lilo's and Angel's. Victoria slept on the other side of Lilo, and Leroy slept in the back, away from everyone else. Stitch fell asleep immediately, with Lilo soon after. The other three had some difficulty: Angel preoccupied with growing thoughts and concerns for Skipper, Victoria wondering about Leroy, and Leroy arguing with himself.

_You should kill them all while you have the chance_. His evil side said. _Then kill that gerbil_.

_No_! His good side said. _They trust you now! Here is your chance to turn your life around! Get a girl, an honest job_!

_Ha! You can't turn your back on your own programming. You're very existence is evil! It is your destiny_!

_No_! Leroy thought. _My destiny is my own! And I am not going to hurt them_!

_Evil will always win! You need me_!

Leroy shook his head. _No. What I need is my own life_.

_You can't get rid of me_. The evil voice said as it faded. _I will always be there. Waiting for you to return_. Leroy turned over, feeling something wet rolling down his cheeks. He wiped his hands across his face, and saw tears.

_I don't cry_. He thought.

"You ok?" Someone asked. Flipping over he saw Victoria standing by him.

"Nothing that you can help." He said. "This is something I have to beat on my own."

"Your evil side?" She asked. Leroy nodded, and Victoria sat down by him. "I know you can beat it."

Leroy sat up and smiled at her. "You've known me for a day. After hearing all the evil about me, how can you trust me?"

"I believe that everyone can change, that everyone can have, and deserves, a second chance. Lilo believes it too, even if she doesn't believe it. Stitch… I think he just needs some time. He'll come around."

Leroy smiled, and said something he had never said before. "Thank you." He glanced around at the others. "You should probably get some sleep. We only have a couple of hours." Victoria leaned over, kissed him on the cheek, and walked back to her sleeping bag, where she fell asleep in moments. Leroy blushed deeply, holding his paw on the spot she had kissed, smiling. "I can't believe someone is actually being so nice to me." He said. Leroy lied back down and fell asleep. Angel was the last to fall asleep, finally removing her thoughts, temporarily, from Skipper.

After waking up several hours later, the group packed their sleeping bag, and had soon arrived at Klimno.

"I'm about to head out." Leroy said. "Anything I should do?"

Stitch shook his head. "Spring the trap and run."

Lilo walked up to the group. "I thought of a safer way to do this." She said, getting their attention. "Here's my idea."

Please review!


	6. Second Battle

Disclaimer: I do not own Lilo and Stitch.

Since I am getting a little ahead in typing, I decided to post this chapter early. I hope you love the ending.

Chapter 6: Second Battle

**In the Base**

Leroy padded slowly but surely through the base. He looked at the surroundings, always alert for something to jump out at him. When he had entered the building, Hamsterviel had told him to go the audience chamber: the middle of the building. It didn't take long to get there, and Leroy went right in. He glanced around, expecting someone to attack, but no one did.

"Ah, so you did come." A voice said. "Right into my trap!" Leroy jumped at the sound, and ran for the door, but it slammed shut before he reached it. "If I had let you live, you only would have killed me." Hamsterviel said, his face appearing on a small plasma screen. "So, I have taken the liberty of killing you first." Leroy started trying to break through the door. "Don't even try it. Even if you did manage to break the door open, I have 5 Klimnar missiles here! In fact, they are all in this room!" As he said this, the 5 bombs rose from the floor. "These are my own design: minimal blast radius, with all the power directed at you. In fact, the blast radius should only be four or five miles! I would watch you die, but I have better things to do. Good bye!" The screen shut off. Leroy looked at the bombs: 10 seconds. He double-checked that the screen was off, and then smiled.

"Perfect." He said. Then the bombs exploded.

**On the Ship**

Leroy tossed the control back to Stitch. "I would say that was perfect."

Stitch nodded. "Yeah, that _would_ have been you, if Lilo hadn't offered her holo emitters to send the probe in instead of you. I'd say you owe her your life now."

Lilo smiled. "Don't worry. You'll pay me back more then enough if you help us get our friends back." Stitch turned the ship around and they headed back to Raaro, while Lilo and Leroy headed back to sit down.

"Will you tell me the whole story now?" Leroy asked.

"What do you mean?" Lilo asked.

"I always knew you never told me the real story behind this whole thing, but I knew that you would only distrust me if I pushed you."

Lilo nodded. "Well, we have an hour. Are you ready to hear the whole story?" Leroy nodded. It took quite a bit of the trip back to retell the whole story, starting with Skipper coming to the island and going through everything, even part of Skipper's history. At the end of it, Leroy whistled.

"Wow, that's one hell… heck of a story. Looks like a lot of people have had hard lives."

"Yeah, but we didn't turn evil." Lilo said,

"I assume your referring to me? At least you didn't have to fight your hardwired programming."

"Touché." Lilo said. "So, how much security do you think the prison has?"

Leroy shrugged. "At them moment, probably not much. Hamsterviel thinks I'm dead, and if your buddy is sitting there, then Hamsterviel might not know that you all survived."

Lilo shook her head. "He probably knows about us. You are going to be the 'secret weapon'. You get to come in and help when they don't expect it."

Leroy glanced around. "So, you guys have had quite a show since I've been gone. It's been… three and a half years, and now you guys are experiments, and the world is turning upside down."

"Yeah, it's been crazy for quite a while." Lilo said. "What about you. Had an interesting time in jail?"

Leroy laughed. "Not really. The only good part is getting to meet people from all over the galaxy, even if all they do is yell at you to shut up."

"I thought you were in jail right between all the other Leroys." Lilo said.

"The guards made them stay where they were, while I was move around. They thought that if someone was going to plan an escape, that it would be me. I got to see every single high security cell they have there. Actually, in hindsight, it was kind of cool." They fell silent for a moment, and then Stitch came over the intercom.

"We'll be there in about half an hour. It's taking longer because we're starting to overheat the hyperdrive." He said. Lilo looked back at the others. Angel was staring off into space, literally, and Victoria had curled up on the floor and fallen back asleep. Lilo turned back to Leroy, who was staring at Victoria fondly.

"You like her, don't you?" Lilo asked. Leroy tore his gaze away from her and blushed.

"No I don't."

"Yes you do. I can tell by the way you look at her." Lilo said.

"I'm concerned for her. She shouldn't be on this mission." Leroy said.

"That, and you like her." Lilo said, smiling. "Come on, she's asleep, and I won't say a word."

Leroy sighed. "I… I… I like her." He said. "There! I said it! Now leave me alone about it!" He buried his face in his hands, as it turned the deepest shade of magenta.

"When are you going to tell her?" Lilo asked. She had to wait for an answer, because Leroy refused to remove his hands until he had stopped blushing.

"I'm not." He said at last.

Lilo's jaw dropped. "Why not? I bet she'll like you back."

"It's not that." Leroy said. "It's just… I don't think her human parents will approve of her and me… more me actually."

"I do see how that could be a problem." Lilo said. "I'm sure you and Jumba could figure something out."

Leroy sighed, burying his face again. "Maybe. But, her life is already complicated enough without me making things worse."

"I don't think that you would make things worse." Lilo said. "I think Victoria would be really happy with you."

Leroy shrugged. "I just don't know."

Stitch called back that they were going to land soon, and everyone buckled their seatbelts.

"So, what are we going to do about Skipper?" Leroy asked.

Lilo sighed. "I don't know. I mean, if we had a way to subdue him, it would be a lot easier." They felt a shudder as the ship passed through the atmosphere.

"I can guarantee you that this won't be as easy as you think. Even if security is subsided, there will still be the guard bots hanging around. It will be slightly easy, because if Skip was reprogrammed slightly by Hamsterviel, he is probably far too overconfident, and will turn off security so he can take care of you." The ship touched the ground with a final jolt, and the engines started winding down. Stitch came out of the cockpit.

"We're here." He said. He went to the back of the ship and opened the weapons locker. He tossed a plasma pistol to everyone, grabbing the last one for himself. "If there are security bots, we'll need these to take care of them. Let's go." With Stitch in the lead and Leroy covering the rear of the group, they headed towards the prison building. They had landed behind some hills that were nearby, so they didn't have far to walk. At the top of the hill, Stitch and Leroy used their vision to scout out the building.

"I don't see any cameras." Stitch said. "Do you?"

Leroy gave the building a second look. "Naga." With a nod, Stitch motioned everyone to follow them. They made their way to the building's front gate.

"No guards." Leroy said. "We just need the code to get this giant gate to open."

Stitch shook his head. "That would take too long."

Lilo joined the conversation. "But breaking the gate open would alert them."

Angel walked up. "What's the difference of setting the alarm off now, instead of when we go through the front door?"

Leroy glanced around at them. "I don't know if there is a right choice."

"Does anyone have a clue what the code might be?" Stitch said. Everyone shook their heads. "Well, then there is only one way, since this fence is shooting with electricity." He pulled out his extra arms, and handed his pistol to Leroy. He wrapped his arms around the bottom of the door, and with a grunt and a great heave, lifted the gate free of its hinges. As he threw it away, they heard sirens wailing from the prison building.

"So much for secrecy." Leroy said. They took off at a run and made it to the prison. Just as Stitch kicked the door in, the sirens stopped.

"He knows we're here." Stitch said. "Be on your guard." They walked down the hallway, which ended quickly in a large room.

"Processing." Leroy said. "High security is in the middle of the building." They went to the metal door dividing them from the rest of the prison. As Stitch tore it off it's hinges, Leroy glanced around. "Duck!" He yelled. Everyone jumped aside, and several plasma shots hit where they stood moments before. Two guard bots floated several inches behind them, still shooting. The five made short work of them.

"More will be on the way." Lilo said. They took off at a run, Leroy now in the lead, heading towards the middle of the prison. Stitch took the rear, and everyone held their weapons at ready. Whenever a guard bot popped up, it was shot down before it could do anything. It took about ten minutes for them to navigate to just outside the center room.

"I've noticed a pattern with all this." Angel said. "It's always the big rooms where we run into trouble."

"Reuben's in there." Stitch said.

"So is a big bad enemy." Leroy said.

"We can't just sit here." Angel said.

"Can you tell who else is in there?" Lilo asked. Stitch sniffed the air for several moments before groaning.

"Skipper." He sniffed again. "And someone else. I've smelled it before, but I can't put my finger on it." They gave him a moment before he growled. "It's Tiberius."

Lilo groaned. "Why does it always have to be so hard?"

"Because otherwise we wouldn't have any fun." Leroy said. "We wouldn't enjoy it if it were all very easy, now would we."

"I don't care as long as we get Skipper back." Angel said.

"Well, we won't gain anything by standing here." Lilo said. "And they already know that we're here, so we might as well go in."

Stitch nodded. "She's right." He tossed his blaster to Leroy and pulled out the sword. "Let's get going." He went to the door and opened it, the others standing behind him with their weapons raised. Instead of rushing into the room, Stitch took a moment to glance around. Reuben was tied up at the far end of the room: battered and bruised, but alive. Skipper stood in the middle of the room, sword drawn, facing the door. Stitch looked around, but the rest of the room was empty.

"So, you finally came." Skipper said. "I knew you would come for him eventually."

"Where's Tiberius?" Stitch asked.

Skipper smiled. "Oh, he's around."

"Leroy." Stitch whispered, barely audible even to Leroy. "While I fight him, crawl around to a corner. I'll drive Skip there, and you jump him. The rest of you be on the look out for Tiberius." He turned to Skipper. "Do you really want a repeat of last time?"

"Don't worry about that." Skipper said, smiling maliciously. "It was a one time deal. This time, you go down."

Stitch smiled back. "In your dreams." The party walked in, and Leroy shut and locked the door behind them. Everyone stayed back, except for Stitch who walked until he was three feet from Skip.

"Shall we dance?" Skip asked.

"Let's." Stitch replied. In a flash, the two met in the middle, swords swinging.

Lilo groaned as she watched them. "I really wish we didn't have to go through this again."

Leroy shrugged. "Hopefully it will turn out better this time. You guys free Reuben. I'll go do what Stitch said. Watch out for Tiberius." They shook hands. Leroy climbed up the wall and waited on the ceiling, while Lilo, Angel, and Victoria ran over to Reuben.

"Reuben! Reuben, are you ok?" Lilo asked, shaking him lightly.

Reuben groaned and opened his eyes. "I look worse then I feel." He said. "Just get me out of here." Angel ran over to the controls and started looking them over. Victoria stared at the dueling duo, barely able to keep up with the swords. Lilo was talking to Reuben, and Leroy was now in the middle of the ceiling, waiting for Stitch to drive Skip to a corner.

"Got it!" Angel called out. The grips around Reuben's ankles and wrists opened, and Lilo caught him before he hit the ground.

"I can walk." Reuben said. Lilo let go of him, and Reuben stood by himself, a little shakily. "Now let's get out of here."

"Not yet." Angel said. "Stitch and Leroy have a plan for getting Skip to… well, I'm not sure what exactly, but they have a plan."

Stitch risked a glance over his shoulder: he saw Leroy on the ceiling, and that the others had Reuben free. Unfortunately, the only corner to drive him at from this angle was the one everyone else was sitting in. However, beggars couldn't be choosers, so he stepped up the pace, and started driving Skip toward the corner.

Lilo watched them, and then grew worried. "Hey guys, is it just me, or are they coming this way?" She asked.

Angel gulped. "I would have to agree with you." The duo was almost there. "Let's go!" Angel called out. She, Lilo, and Reuben ran off and made it out. When they were a safe distance away, they turned around. Victoria had slipped after a step, and stumbled back and fell in the corner. Lilo gasped as she saw that Victoria was now trapped in the corner, between two walls, and two fighting aliens.

Leroy was on the ceiling right above her, and started coming down to help her. He saw that Stitch had stopped driving Skipper back, hopefully giving him a bit of an opening. As he drew closer, he saw Skipper glance back, and a smile form on his face. Leroy was just above Victoria, and deep down, knew exactly what Skipper was going to do. Not having time to think, just act, he jumped off the wall, and landed in front of Victoria, just as Skipper spun around and slashed at them.

To Angel, it all appeared as her dream. Leroy jumped down, a sword flashed, now covered in blood, and Victoria let out a scream. The scream was what caused Stitch to falter in his swing, giving Skipper the upper hand: now Stitch was the one being driven back.

Leroy looked down: a large, deep cut had appeared, that went from his left shoulder to his right hip. It was hard to tell, but he was sure it was deep. His magenta blood was pouring down his body like a waterfall. Just as he collapsed, he felt strong arms lifting him up, supporting him. Glancing over, he saw Victoria struggling to half carry, half drag him to the others. A sharp pain ran through his entire body, and he fell unconscious.

Angel looked at them all. "We have to get out of here. This isn't working." She said, as Victoria and the injured Leroy came to them. They all nodded, but before they could move, they heard a voice behind them.

"You aren't going anywhere." It said. Spinning around, they were confronted by one of the last people they wanted to see.

"Tiberius." Lilo said.

Tiberius smiled. "So you _do _remember me." He raised his claws to swipe them, but Reuben lifted him up and hurled him bodily across the room.

"Go." He said. "He's mine."

The others shook their heads. "We go together." Reuben nodded, and went into a karate stance, all fear and cowardice forgotten. Tiberius came back, and soon the two were sparring.

"Well, now we have two fights going on." Lilo said. They looked from the sword clashing of Stitch and Skip, to the kicks and punches of Reuben and Tiberius.

"Unfortunately, I think we're losing." Victoria said. Stitch was being driven back by Skipper, having used most of his strength to drive him to the corner. Reuben, after being tied up and beaten, was no match for Tiberius.

"Victoria, take Leroy to the ship, and get ready to take off." Angel said. "Lilo and I will wait here as long as we can." Victoria nodded, and left, carrying Leroy.

Reuben knew he was in trouble. Having been forced to endure many beatings, he wasn't a match for the fresh Tiberius. However, he wasn't going to give up until he had to. They were now fighting right next to the doorway, but they didn't really notice. Suddenly, the siren went off again, causing Reuben to jump a little in surprise, throwing his guard off. It turned out to be fatal.

Please review and tell me what you think. I know the cliffhanger is kind of mean, but I'm sure you can live with it.


	7. Remember

Disclaimer: I do not own Lilo and Stitch.

Ok, so here is the correct chapter. Sorry about that. I had some computer issues, and it switched it around. A BIG thank you to avatarjk137 for noticing this. This is the correct chapter. Again, I apologize.

Chapter 7:

Tiberius took the chance to use all his strength on Reuben, and dug the claws of his right hand deep into Reuben's chest: judging by the way Reuben reacted, Tiberius was sure he had hit his heart, or at least close to it. Reuben gasped and fell on his knees, trying to breathe. Tiberius took his claws out, and was about to finish him, when a flash of pink fur caught his eye, and he was tackled to the ground.

"Lilo, get him out of here!" Angel cried, trying to keep Tiberius pinned. "Stitch and I will be right behind you!" Lilo nodded, and ran off, carrying the injured Reuben. Angel and Tiberius continued to wrestle on the ground. "Stitch! Let's get out of here!" She cried. She tossed Tiberius to the wall, just as Stitch used the last of his strength to toss Skip away. They met in the middle, and ran to the door. Just before they made it out, the door closed, and a hiss and a bang told them that the extra security doors had closed also: they were trapped.

"All right, give up now?" Skipper asked. They turned around slowly, and saw he and Tiberius behind them. Stitch sighed, and tossed the sword down.

"Ih." He said. With two lightning movements, Skipper brought the hilt down on their heads, sending them into unconsciousness.

"Tie them up." He said, tossing them to Tiberius. "I'll wake them soon, and then we'll torture some information out of them." Tiberius strapped the other sword across his back.

"I think we got two of the others." He said.

**On the Ship**

Lilo laid Reuben on the med bed beside Leroy. She stared at Reuben, who was still conscious.

"Guess… I… messed up." Reuben coughed out.

"You need your strength to recover." Lilo said.

Reuben smiled. "No. He got… me good. This… was my… first… and only… fight. Wish… we… had won."

Tears appeared in Lilo's eyes. "Don't die Reuben. Please don't die."

Reuben shrugged. "It was… going… to happen. At least… I could… die with… friends." He looked up at Lilo, his eyes clouding over. "It's been… fun." His eyes closed, and he collapsed back against the bed. The computer beeped to tell her that he had died. Lilo burst out into tears, cradling Reuben's head in her arms.

"I'm so sorry Reuben." She said. She activated the com system, as Victoria was up in the cockpit. "Victoria, let's get out of here. It should be auto-programmed to take us back home."

"What about the others?" Victoria asked.

"We'll come back for them soon. Leroy needs help, and we need to get him to Earth fast." Lilo heard the engines start up, and a minute later, they were in hyperspace.

"How long?" Lilo asked.

"Well, according to the manual which I found under the seat, I think I could push a few buttons and get us there within three hours." She said.

"Do it." A moment later, the ship surged with speed. The door slid open to reveal Victoria.

"Will they be ok?" She asked, walking over so she could stand by Leroy.

Lilo wiped a tear away. "Leroy might, but Reuben… it's too late." Victoria knew what she meant, and walked over and put her hand on Lilo's shoulder.

"He gave his life to save us. I think he would have wanted that." Victoria said.

"Yeah." They were quiet for a moment. "Let's take care of Leroy. I don't want to lose both of them." For the remainder of the trip, they managed to stop most of the bleeding on Leroy, and bandage him up a bit. They felt the ship drop from hyperspace, but they stayed back in the medical bay. They felt the ship jolt a few minutes later, as the ship landed on the ground.

"Should we go out?" Victoria asked.

Lilo shook her head. "They'll be in here soon." Sure enough, a minute later, they heard feet pounding in the ship. The door opened, and revealed Cobra and Jumba.

"What were you doing?" Cobra asked. Before he could continue, his eyes shifted between the forms on the beds.

"It's a long story." Lilo said. "And it's not over yet."

They had Pleakly join them a short while later, and Lilo and Victoria retold the entire story to them. They took turns, each falling silent when they hit a hard memory. The story took almost two hours to tell in its entirety. As they told the story, Jumba took care of Leroy, giving him medication, completely stopping the bleeding, and taking scans of his body. When they finished, there was complete silence for several minutes. The computer sounded a large ding, breaking the silence. Jumba went over and looked at the computer.

"Is readout of 629." He said.

"629?" Victoria asked.

"Leroy's number." Lilo explained.

"Is true." Jumba said. "Anyway, looks like 629 is critical, but stable. Will be able to cover wound, though still might hurt for rest of life. What he needs is blood, which I need time to make. Should take only one or two days to make. However, we is needing to rescue 626 and 624. Who knows what they are doing to them at this moment."

"Yeah, who knows what Skip will do to them." Lilo said sadly.

"Little girl! I is remembering: I believe I have device to give you ability to get rid of Athena. However, is very risky."

"What is it?" Lilo asked.

"Simply, will put you into unconscious state, and will give you ability to battle inside your own head. However, if you were to lose, then Athena would have complete control of your body."

Lilo shook her head. "Then I won't use it until Stitch is with me."

"Lilo, Stitch is dead for all we know." Cobra said.

"I would know if Stitch were dead!" Lilo yelled. "And he's not! He just needs our help!" Lilo stormed off the ship and went to hide in her room.

Cobra sighed. "We can't plan a rescue operation for a few hours. And there's no guarantee that they will do it."

"Well I am going to go clean the house." Pleakly said. "You guys can figure all this out."

"I wish I knew what was happening to Stitch and Angel right now." Victoria said, as she slowly stroked Leroy's head.

**Raaro Prison Building**

It turned out that Victoria probably didn't want to know what was happening to them. It had been five hours since they had left. Stitch and Angel had been woken up after two, and had been tortured at the hands of Skipper and Tiberius for three. Now, Angel was covered in bruises and cuts, and one of her eyes was swelled shut. Stitch had faired slightly better, though his body was also had its share of bruises. Skipper and Tiberius left the room to contact Hamsterviel, leaving the two prisoners alone.

"Angel, are you ok?" Stitch asked.

"What do you think?" Angel asked.

"We need to get him to remember you."

"But how? If he hasn't remembered me by now, what will get him to?"

Stitch shrugged. "I don't know. You're the one who loves him. Find a way." The door opened and their captors came back in. Angel put her head down, and acted like she was unconscious.

"So, what's next?" Tiberius asked.

Skipper walked over to Angel. "First, we wake this one up." He was nose to nose with her. She knew that she wouldn't be able to move fast enough to kiss him, but maybe licking his nose would work well enough. She shot her head up and licked his cheek. Skip stumbled back in surprise.

"Skip, please remember me." Angel said.

Something stirred in Skipper's mind. Not an image, but a feeling. He walked away, his hand on the spot where her tongue had touched him. He walked out of the room, and sat just outside deep in thought.

Tiberius saw it all. He knew the truth about what Skipper had really been. In fact, he knew that he had been kept around simply to make sure that Skipper didn't remember what happened. At the moment, it looked like Skipper might be remembering. He had to make sure that that wasn't going to happen. He walked outside to Skipper. "You ok?"  
Skipper shrugged. "It's just… I've had this feeling before, and I'm trying to remember."

Tiberius smiled. "Try to hard to remember and your memory might lie to you."

Skipper nodded. "You're probably right."

"Let's stay out here for a bit; get some fresh air. They aren't going anywhere." He held out his hand, and helped Skipper up. They walked outside together.

**Lilo's House**

Lilo sat by her window, and waited for everyone but Victoria to leave the ship. After a few minutes, she saw Jumba and Cobra leave. She could hear Pleakly vacuuming, so that meant Victoria was alone. When Cobra and Jumba were out of sight, Lilo crawled out the window. For a moment, she contemplated how to get down, and then remembered she was a lot stronger. She closed her eyes and jumped off, landing with a thud. Standing up and dusting herself off, she ran into the ship and down to the med bay. Walking in, she saw Victoria sitting by Leroy, stroking his head.

"Hey Lilo." Victoria said. "Guess we're going to be in some trouble when Nani gets back.

Lilo nodded. "A lot of trouble. But she won't be back for a while, so we're ok for now." Lilo sat down by Victoria. "So, what now? We don't have the firepower to go back and fight Skipper, let alone save Stitch and Angel."

"Not only that, but Cobra won't let us go back. I'm surprised he hasn't torn the power generator out of the ship." Victoria pointed out.

Lilo sighed. "Yeah. I just hope that Skip won't kill them."

Victoria took her hand off of Leroy, and put her arm around Lilo. "Stitch is smart. I'm sure he and Angel are coming up with a plan right now.

Lilo nodded. "He probably is. I just hope it works, and it doesn't get anyone else killed."

"Lilo, you should use Jumba's device."

"What?"  
"Jumba's device; you should use it." Victoria repeated. "I know you want to wait for Stitch, but he might not come back for a long time. And you really need to beat this thing before it takes over you. I think Stitch would agree."

"I know." Lilo said quietly. "It's just… I just wanted him here. To be with me while I did it."

"We'll be right next to you the whole time." Victoria said. "We won't abandon you."

Lilo nodded. "You're right. I should." They sat silently for several minutes. "I'll go tell Jumba. Don't go anywhere, ok?"

Victoria went back to stroking Leroy's head. "Do you think I would?"

**Raaro Prison Building**

Skipper and Tiberius had stood outside the prison building for about ten minutes, before heading back in. Tiberius was still wary of Skipper, so he followed him, keeping an eye on him.

Skipper had paid no attention to Tiberius the whole time. He was still searching inside himself, trying to find why Angel had stirred something in his memory. He could feel he was getting close, but nothing was coming to mind. When they made it back to the prison room, Skipper opened the electronic lock using the ID hanging around his neck. They walked in and sat down, about ten feet from where Angel and Stitch hung. By the look of it, they had both fallen asleep: extremely uncomfortable, but asleep. A beep rang throughout the room, and Tiberius picked up his communicator.

"Dr. Hamsterviel. Good to hear from you." Tiberius said.

"What I am going to tell you is only for you to hear. Get away."

Tiberius looked up at Skip. "Sorry buddy, but this is for me only. I'll be right back." Skipper nodded, and Tiberius left the room. Just as the door closed behind him, Skipper turned to the captives and looked back and forth between them. There was something about them… some deep connection between them and himself, but he didn't know what it was

_Well, I won't find anything out by just sitting here_. He thought. Going over to Angel, he splashed some water on her face to wake him up.

"What do you want?" Angel asked, afraid she was going to be tortured again.

"What do you think you know about me that I don't?" Skipper asked.

"I know more about you then you do, right now." Angel answered.

"Then how come I don't remember?"

Angel sighed. "That part I don't know. The last time we were together was right before we attacked Hamsterviel's underwater base. You were at Lilo's house, and got captured. That's the last time I saw you that you still remembered me."

Skipper sighed. "I just don't know what to think anymore."

"Trust your heart. It can't be made to forget things." Angel said. The door hissed open, and Tiberius walked back in.

"What's going on?" He asked, looking between Angel and Skipper.

"I was asking her if she knew what her little friends were planning." Skip asked, walking back to where he had been standing before Tiberius had left.

"And?"

"She doesn't know anything." Skipper said. He stared off into space, trying to sort his thoughts out again. However, Tiberius thought that there was more going on between them then Skip had said, but he didn't want to say anything just yet. He glared at Angel, who growled at him in response.

**Lilo's House**

Lilo returned to the ship several minutes with Jumba following her.

"Will take about an hour for me to get it set up." Jumba said, picking up his invention. "I will have to make some adjustments for your use. When we get other boy back, I will be making more adjustments for his use."

Lilo nodded. "So, what exactly does it do?"

Jumba sighed. "I is not knowing exactly. All I know, is will put you in subconscious, where you will be pitted in some way against evil half. If you win, will make it disappear forever. If you lose, evil half will take over permanently and go out and destroy world."

Lilo nodded. "So, how hard will it be to win?"

"Again, I is not knowing." Jumba said as he started working. "I am theorizing that since you are more in control the evil side, and have been for long time, should be easier for you to do then others."

Lilo glanced over at Leroy. "Would Leroy be able to use it to get rid of his evil side?" Lilo asked.

"Maybe, maybe not. Since his evil was programmed in, he might not be able to. If he can, would be difficult fight."

"So, I have an hour?" Lilo asked.

"Yes, one hour, until the fight of your life."

**Raaro Prison Building**

Skipper and Tiberius sat at a table facing each other playing poker. Angel and Stitch had endured another round of torture, this one involving fire. Needless to say, both were quite out of it. Skipper was still distracted with thoughts of Angel, trying to piece together his thoughts, his feelings, and his suspicions. He knew the answer was inside him, and it felt like it was just out of reach, waiting for him to grab it. He was paying little attention to the game, and therefore continuously lost. Lucky for him, they were only using the cash with the picture of Hamsterviel on them, useful only if he took over.

"Earth to Skipper. Are you ok?" Tiberius said.

Skipper glanced up at him. "Just a lot on my mind right now."

"You've been listening to that pink bitch too much dude. There is nothing else about you that's being hidden. She's just trying to confuse you into freeing her so she and that blue bastard can gut you."

Skipper shrugged. "I don't know. I just have this feeling that, somehow, she's telling the truth."

Tiberius was getting aggravated. Nothing he was saying was deterring Skipper; too much longer, and he might start remembering. The only thing to do was to shut up Angel. He huffed and shoved his chair from the table. He and Skipper both stood up: Skipper stayed there, while Tiberius walked over to the barely conscious Angel.

"You had better start leaving him alone, or you're going to be in more hurt then you are now." He growled at her. Angel spat in his face. "Stupid bitch!" He yelled, slapping her hard across the face, making her shout in pain.

Something in Skipper's head clicked: first an image, then a scene.

**Flashback**

_"Angel, what if I have the nightmare again?" He asked. "I don't want to wake anyone up."_

_Angel walked over to the bed, she said "Scoot over." Skipper moved to the side of the bed, and Angel laid down next to him. "There." She said. "Now if you do, I can stop you from yelling too loudly." Skipper smiled, and closed his eyes._

**End Flashback**

The scene hit Skipper like a ton of bricks. He knew there was more to this scene, this story, but he couldn't reach it yet. However, he knew now that, whatever the story really was, Tiberius was lying, and Angel was somehow telling him the truth. He looked over at Tiberius, anger burning within him. When he saw him kicking and hitting Angel, something from his heart snapped, and his rage boiled over. In a flash, he had his sword drawn, and charged at Tiberius yelling, "LEAVE HER ALOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNE!!!!!"

Please review and tell me what you think. I am starting to enjoy ending these chapters with a mini-cliffhanger.


	8. Evil Diminishing

Disclaimer: I do not own Lilo and Stitch.

Chapter 8: Evil Diminishing

Tiberius heard Skipper yell, and turned around to see him charging, sword in hand. He managed to pull his sword out and raise it just in time to block his first strike. As Skipper continued to strike at him over and over, Tiberius was driven back one step at a time. Angel had been driven unconscious by Tiberius' attack, but Stitch was watching the battle.

As he watched, Stitch was still trying to understand what was going on with Skipper. From what he could tell, Skipper had had some sort of flashback or something similar, and knew at least part of his old self. However, it didn't really matter, as Stitch was still chained to the wall.

Skipper continued his relentless attack on Tiberius. Everything he had known, everything he had believed, had changed with one moment. His world was turned upside down, and there were only one person he thought he could trust: Angel, who was now telling the truth. As he drove Tiberius back, he got closer to where Stitch was chained up. The fight progressed until they were right in front of him: with two quick slices, he had Stitch freed.

After being tortured for so long, Stitch fell straight to the ground, and it took him a moment to gain the strength to stand up. When he did, the fight was now several feet away. The next moment, Skipper tossed something at him, and Stitch caught it: it was an ID badge.

"Use the badge to get a ship!" Skipper yelled. "Take her out of here!" Stitch snapped Angel free, and picked up her unconscious form.

"What about you?" Stitch yelled.

"I'll hold him off! Just get out off here!" Skipper yelled. Stitch was reluctant to leave him, but he knew he had no choice, and so he ran off carrying Angel.

Tiberius knew he was in trouble. He had managed to program himself to be able to wield the sword, but not as well as Skipper could. As he blocked blow after blow, he felt himself getting weaker and slower. He looked into Skipper's eyes, and now only saw pure rage and anger. He ran through his powers in his head, and nothing that could help came to mind. He decided that it was no use anymore: he dropped his sword, and let Skipper separate his head from his body.

Skipper's stomach went in and out quickly as he started regaining his breath. He had no clue where to go now: everything he knew was gone. He thought of heading after Angel and Stitch, but he rejected the idea: he needed to think for a bit. He thought of places to go, and decided to head to somewhere no one would look for him immediately. He ran though a few places, and figured no one would look on Earth. He grabbed Tiberius' ID badge, and headed out to a ship. When he got in, he slid the badge through, and it started up. He put in the coordinates for Earth, and decided to head to the smaller continent of Australia: out of the way, small, and yet large enough to not be found in. The ship took off, and in a few minutes, he was blasting through hyperspace.

**Jumba's Ship**

It had taken Jumba an hour and a half, but he had finally calibrated his new invention to work.

"Now, little girl, is very dangerous." Jumba said, as he attached it to her head. "If you were to lose, evil would take over forever."

Lilo nodded, as she lied back on the med bed. "I know, and I really wish Stitch were here to be by me, but I don't have a choice: I need to get rid of this thing before it takes over."

Jumba nodded. "Do not be worrying. We will be here the whole time."

Victoria nodded. "Yeah, we'll be right next to you."

Lilo nodded. "Thanks." She sighed and looked around the room one last time. "Ok Jumba, I'm ready."

Jumba nodded. "Activating." He said. Pressing several buttons and pulling switches, the invention came to life. Lilo suddenly felt very light headed, and very tired. In moments, she was asleep; or was she?

**Lilo's Head**

_Lilo opened her eyes and looked around. It appeared that she was down on the beach. It was a bright sunny day, and everything seemed perfect. Out of nowhere, a storm came, covering half of the beach she wasn't standing on. She looked at it peculiarly, and then saw someone standing inside it. It took her a moment to realize who it was:_

_It was her, Athena._

_"Well Lilo, so you finally came to me. I figured you would eventually." She said._

_"I've come to destroy you." Lilo yelled back. Athena burst out laughing._

_"Sure. You know what, I'm in a generous mood: you have five seconds to get out, before I start this battle."_

_Lilo stood her ground. "It's time we finished this, Athena. It's time that only I was left."_

_"Overconfidence will be your downfall." Athena said in a singsong voice. "But, if you really wish to fight, then so be it." She put her hands together, and in a flash, a large, pulsating black ball of energy appeared, and she hurled it at Lilo. Lilo managed to dodge out of the way just before it her. As Athena continued to hurl the balls of energy at her, Lilo continued to dodge them, trying to find a way to fight back._

_"Can I throw those myself?" Lilo asked herself quietly. She dodged one last energy ball, and then concentrated. To her surprise, a white ball, larger then Athena's appeared in her hands. Without a second thought, Lilo threw it at her opponent. Athena jumped out of the way, and they were quickly firing balls back and forth._

_"There is no real difference between us." Athena called. "The only thing truly different is that you refuse to use your powers to their full potential." Lilo opened her mouth, but could think of nothing that separated them._

_Lilo started wondering how long this would keep up. Forming the energy took little work, and their aim was quite off because of having to dodge and throw at the same time. Suddenly, their next to balls of energy collided, throwing beams straight back at them. When the light from the hit receded, Lilo saw that a line of energy, half light and half dark, was now connecting her and Athena. She was unsure what it was, but felt a push against it, and the middle of the beam moved towards her. She instantly started pushing back._

_"It's no use!" Athena called. "I am far more powerful then you will ever be. Besides, you need me!"_

_Lilo shook her head, and tried pushing back, but the beam only quivered to a halt. "No I don't! I need my own life!" The beam moved a few inches closer to Lilo._

**Jumba's Ship**

Jumba and Victoria sat around Lilo's bed and watched her. It seemed, from the outside, that she was losing. Even though a few minutes had passed in Lilo's head, two hours had passed out in the real world. Jumba was getting worried for Lilo, and had the defense system ready to activate, just in case.

"Jumba, will she win?" Victoria asked.

Jumba sighed. "I hope so." The computer let out a large beep, and the computer spoke.

"Unidentified ship entering atmosphere. Heading… your location." Jumba ran to the computer, and looked at the ship.

"Is one of Hamsterviel's ships." Jumba said. "And computer says he is coming here."

Victoria became worried. "We can't do anything! The only person around who can fight is you!" She said. Jumba went to the weapon locker and pulled out a plasma cannon (A/N Like the one in Finder that Hamsterviel built, only bigger). He activated the ships inner security, and checked the scanner.

"Ship has landed not far away and has powered down. There were two individuals inside, though could not get good enough bio reading on figures. However, am assuming we will find out soon." He aimed his cannon at the door, while Victoria hid behind one of the beds.

**Lilo's Head**

_The beam continued to move closer and closer to Lilo, inch by inch, and Lilo knew she was in trouble. She pushed back as hard as she could, but to no avail._

_"You have no hope!" Athena called out. "You will lose: resistance is futile!"_

_Lilo grimaced as the beam came closer. "I don't care if it is: I'm going to fight you until I can't!"_

**Jumba's Ship**

The door hissed open, and Jumba fired his weapon.  
"Chutah! Jumba, it me!" Stitch called out from around the corner.

"Oh, 626, thought it was Hamsterviel." Jumba said, putting down the gun. Stitch walked into the room cautiously, supporting a half conscious Angel.

"What happened Stitch?" Victoria asked, coming out of her hiding place. Stitch opened his mouth to explain, when he saw Lilo lying on the bed with Jumba's contraption on her head.

"What are you doing to her!?" He shouted. He placed Angel carefully at the end of the bed, and went over to Lilo.

"Little girl is battling evil side in head." Jumba explained. "Invention took her into subconscious to battle other half and destroy her forever."

Stitch looked at Lilo worryingly. "It looks like she losing." He said.

Jumba nodded. "Unfortunately, that is how it is looking. Now, I is needing to scan you and 624 so I can be fixing you up."

"Naga." Stitch snarled. "Not until Lilo is fine." Jumba knew better to argue, and decided to start with Angel. Stitch picked up Lilo's paw and kissed it. "Don't worry, I'm here."

**Lilo's Head**

_Lilo felt another presence, like an old friend by here. She smiled, as she realized that Stitch had made it back._

_"So what if your friend is fine? I don't need friends! They make you weak! They are used to make you surrender! And they always turn on you!" Athena yelled. The beam was now only half a foot from Lilo's outstretched arms._

_Suddenly, it hit Lilo how they were indeed different. "You're wrong!" She called back. "Friends help you out! They are the ones you can trust!" The beam quivered, and then moved away from her._

_"NO! They are tools!" Athena called, starting to become worried._

_Lilo smiled. "No. They are the ones you turn to when you're in trouble." The beam was now closer to Athena then Lilo. "There is a difference between us: you use evil for power."_

_"Evil and darkness are the hearts true essence! It needs it!" Athena called, starting to panic._

_"Wrong! While you believe in power from evil, I know better; my friends are my power!" The beam hit Athena, and she exploded. When the light cleared, only thin, ghostly outline remained._

_"Damn you! Damn you to hell!" It yelled, and then it to disappeared. Lilo sat on the ground._

_"It's finally over." She said to herself. "No more nightmares." The 'world' around her became fuzzy and distorted, and then disappeared all together._

**Jumba's Ship**

Lilo opened her eyes, and looked up into Stitch's face.

"She's gone." Lilo said. Stitch smiled and pulled her into a tight hug. When they pulled apart, Lilo gasped. "Stitch! What happened to you?" Stitch turned to the mirror, and got a good look at himself. He was more purple then blue now, and his eyes were both black. Most of his fur was either black, or covered in his dried magenta blood. He smiled and turned back to Lilo.

"Do I look too good now?" He asked. Lilo laughed.

"Let's get you cleaned up." She said. She sat up and pulled the helmet off, placing carefully on the table. They walked together to one of the other rooms, where there was a bathtub. As usual, Stitch's fear of water kicked in, but Lilo refused to let him get out of it. "Would you rather get some unique infection, swell up, and then get really sick and die?" Stitch groaned, but gave up fighting. Lilo ran some water and filled it with bubbles. Stitch got into the warm water, closed his eyes, and sat there as Lilo scrubbed and brushed every inch of him. For once, it felt good to have a bath. When he was done, he crawled out and shook until he was mostly dry, getting Lilo somewhat wet.

"Sorry." He said.

"I could use a bath anyway." Lilo said. "Go get checked out by Jumba while I take a bath, and then we can hang out for a bit, and you can tell me everything." Stitch nodded, and walked back to the med room.

"Ok 624, you will be right as rain in day or two. You should sleep here for night. Ah, 626. Is your turn to be checked out." As Stitch walked over, he looked over at Leroy.

"Will he be ok?" Stitch asked.

Jumba shrugged. "Hopefully. However, I is not knowing for sure. Now, how did you get out of there? Little girl told me that you had been captured."

Stitch nodded. "We were, and I am quite confused as to what happened." As Jumba ran his scans, Jumba told him everything that had happened after Lilo and the others had left. By the time he finished his story, Jumba had finished the scans.

"Very interesting. I would guess that, since little boy didn't come back, that he only had partial jogging of mind. He will probably go somewhere to clear head, and try and figure more out. I is guaranteeing that he will show up again. Which side he will be on, I do not know."

Angel sighed. "He'll remember. We just have to jog his memory." She said.

"I agree." Stitch said. "But I don't know what."

"Let us brainstorm tomorrow. We have had enough for one day. Besides, will be dinner soon. Now 626, you is in better condition then 624. Bruising will recede in day or two, and burned fur will return to natural color in that time also. You have a concussion, so you will need to be watched for next 24 hours. Other then that, you will be fine. 624 should stay here for day or two to recover. Now go play. I will be calling for pizza later." Lilo and Stitch said bye to Angel, and then walked out of the ship. They decided to go down to the beach for a bit. When they got there, Stitch sighed as he spread out his tired, injured body in the sun.

"This feels good." He said, closing his eyes. "I could lay here forever."

Lilo sat next to him. "Open your eyes Stitch. If you have a concussion, I can't have you going to sleep yet." She said. He groaned, but opened his eyes.

"Fine, I won't sleep yet." Stitch muttered.

Lilo smiled and laid next to him. "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you again." She put her arm around him and they scooted close together. "We can go back to the house later. Let's just hang together for now." Stitch nodded, and they laid there for an hour, watching the clouds, the waves, and kissing. After that hour, they stood up, Stitch with a little help from Lilo, and they walked back to the house. When they got there, Jumba was just getting off the phone.

"Pizza will be here in few minutes. Please to be patient until it is here." He said, going back to the ship. Lilo and Stitch looked around the house, and realized that they had it to themselves. Cobra had gone to his office, Pleakly was out shopping, Gantu was patrolling in his ship, and Jumba, Leroy, and Victoria were all in the ship. They sat on the couch, and flipped through the channels, but didn't find anything interesting. A few minutes later the bell rang. Lilo was about to answer it, when she realized that she didn't have her emitters anymore. Jumba happened to be coming to the door at that moment, so he was able to get the pizza and pay for it. Victoria and Angel followed him in, and the five of them sat down for pizza. When they finished, Angel and Victoria went back to the ship, while Lilo and Stitch went up to their room.

Stitch went and laid on the bottom bunk, and pulled the covers over him. He was surprised when Lilo laid next to him.

"I need to keep you under surveillance." Lilo said, smiling. Stitch turned over, and she put her arms around him.

"Night Lilo." Stitch said.

Over on the ship, Angel laid on the open med bed, and fell asleep instantly. Victoria went and sat by the prostrate of Leroy and started stroking his head.

"I hope you wake up soon Leroy. Things are getting better around here, but it'd be a lot nicer if you were here, too." She said. She patted his head, and then went and lied by his feet. "Wake up soon Leroy. I really want you to be here with me." Moments later, she too was sound asleep.

Please review. I've decided a little more against the cliffhangers.


	9. Phone Call

Disclaimer: I do not own Lilo and Stitch.

Again, sorry I screwed up the seventh chapter. I know it gave a few things away, and I am really sorry. I will make sure to double-check everything from now on. Also, I can't post as often anymore with all the swamps of homework I am getting. But enough of my whining: on with the chapter!

Chapter 9: Phone Call

Stitch woke up to the sun shining on his face. He felt Lilo's arms around him, and smiled. His head was killing him, but otherwise he was fine. He turned around, facing Lilo, and gave her a gentle shake. She opened her eyes, and smiled when she saw him.

"Hey good looking." She said.

Stitch looked over his shoulder. "Who?"

Lilo smiled, and then all the memories and feelings of the past days caught up with her. She pulled Stitch close to her and started crying on his shoulder.

Stitch patted her head. "It's ok Lilo."

Lilo shook her head. "No it's not. Reuben's dead, Leroy's horribly injured, and you and Angel were tortured. It's not ok."

Stitch stroked her head fur. "Lilo, it wasn't your fault. None of it was your fault."

"But Reuben was one of my best friends." Lilo sobbed.

"I know." Stitch said. "But nothing we can do will change that."

"I know." Lilo whispered. "But it's just not fair."

"Let's go have breakfast. I'm sure Jumba and Victoria will need some cheering up. Pleakly will probably piss one of them off and they'll try and kill them."

Lilo sniffed and nodded. "You're probably right. Let's go down." They got out of bed and took the lift downstairs. Victoria was already down there, sitting on the couch.

"Hey Victoria. Something wrong?" Lilo asked.

Victoria shrugged. "Jumba's in a bad mood, so I decided to leave him alone."

Stitch nodded. "I bet Reuben's death is tearing him up inside." He said, a tear coming to his eyes. "He looked at all of us as his children. It's going to be really hard for him the next few days." Angel walked out of the kitchen and joined them.

"Yeah, he was yelling at me about taking care of myself when I woke up, so I decided to cook you guys something to eat. Personally, I would stay away from him for an hour or so and let him cool down a little. Come on, the waffles are ready. Besides, let talk about something happy." They four of them walked into the kitchen, and sat down around the table.

"I can't think of anything happy that's happened in the past few days." Lilo said glumly.

Stitch nodded. "Me either."

Victoria sighed. "There just isn't anything happy to talk about these days. I mean, unless Skipper comes back, Hamsterviel gets caught, or Leroy wakes up, I don't see how anything could really be nice." They ate in silence, no one speaking another word. When they finished, Victoria stood up. "I think I'll go check on Leroy." She said. She walked out to the ship, where she saw Jumba inside by the computer, muttering to himself. She didn't even try to look at the screen; it probably only would have confused her. She walked quickly and silently over to the med bay, and made sure the door hissed shut behind her. She walked over to Leroy's bed and sat down next to it. She picked up his paw, and held it in her own.

"Come on Leroy. I bet you love lying there, making us do all the work while you get to be lazy." Victoria said, smiling.

"I actually kind of do." He whispered.

Victoria jumped. "Leroy?"

Leroy's eyes fluttered open. "Ow." He said. "Everything hurts."  
"Leroy!" Victoria squealed, pulling him into a hug.

"Ow!" He yelled. Victoria let go of him. "Careful, it really hurts!" He said. The door opened to reveal Jumba.

"629, you is awake!" He said, only slightly cheerful. "Is very good. I will go tell little girl and 626." He left the room, and Leroy looked up at Victoria.

"What's his problem?" He asked.

Victoria sighed. "Well, you missed this because you were out but… Reuben… Reuben died while we were escaping."

Leroy was devastated. He had never really known him, but this wasn't supposed to happen. Weren't the good guys always supposed to win? "Is everyone else ok?" He asked.

Victoria shrugged. "More or less. You, Lilo, and I got out with Reuben's bo… body." She stuttered. "Angel and Stitch… they weren't so lucky." She saw the horrified look on his face. "They're back now! They just got a little…" She trailed off.

"Tortured?" Leroy asked. Victoria nodded. Leroy whistled. "Wow, a guy can miss a lot in a few days of unconsciousness."

"You took quite a blow." Victoria said. "And lost quite a bit of blood. We barely managed to save you." The door behind them opened, and Lilo and Stitch ran in.

"Leroy!" Lilo said happily, giving him a big hug.

"Ow!" He yelled, causing Lilo to let go. "Does everyone have to hurt me?"

Lilo shook her head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. We're just so happy that you're ok."

Leroy looked around at them. "I'm ok? Wow, that's kind of hard to believe."

Stitch nodded. "All you need is a few days rest, then you'll be up and kicking again.

"And while you recover, we're going to look for Hamsterviel using the scanners." Lilo said. "Cobra and Gantu are coming over later, and when they do, we're going to try and figure out a way to get Skipper to remember everything."

Leroy sighed. "Are you sure you want him to?"

Lilo's mouth dropped open. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, the thing is, is that I was looking up his history on the rides, and he has some… emotional and mental issues, as far as stability goes. Unfortunately, I believe that getting him to remember will be bad. Once he realized who he really is, and also remembers all the stuff he has done to us, I don't think he'll be able to live with himself." There was an uncomfortable silence that lasted for several moments, before the door opened again and Angel came in.

"Hey Leroy!" She said, sitting on the other bed.

"So, what now?" Leroy asked. "We have the framework of a plan, all we need is to fill in the details."

"I think you wanted _me_ for the details." Cobra said, coming in the door with Jumba and Pleakly.

Lilo nodded. "Yeah, we could sure use your knowledge, and Jumba's intelligence." Everyone sat in a semi-circle around Leroy.

"So, what can we do to get Skip to remember?" Leroy asked.

"Well, what we need is another strong reminder." Stitch said. "Angel started it off, we need to find something to finish it."

"We need another strong emotion." Lilo said.

"Yeah. What else besides love is strong?" Victoria asked.

"Well, there's quite a bit." Cobra said. "Anger, hate, fear, surprise…"

Angel cut him off. "Fear?"

Cobra nodded. "Yes, fear would be the best choice after trying hate. They are both very good at getting inside the head or heart. Why?"

"Well, we could find someone he was afraid of." Angel said.

Stitch knew where Angel was going. "Someone that nearly killed him when he was younger."

Lilo sighed. "But Kristy is dead." Everyone gave her an odd look.

"What do you mean?" Stitch asked. Lilo sighed, and retold what she had heard a long time ago, when she had stood outside of the meeting place between Cobra and Kristy. "So, she's dead?" Stitch asked.

Cobra shook his head. "No, she's alive. The shots you heard were fired by her at Skipper, which of course didn't work."

"So, if the bullets didn't hurt him, why did the bomb?" Lilo asked.

Jumba spoke up. "The reason would be in the DNA. The way he was changed caused several abnormalities. It is continuously in flux, causing body to behave differently at certain times."

"And in English that means…" Lilo's voice trailed off.

"Means that at certain points he is indestructible like 626, and at other times vulnerable like 624. It will be continuously changing until I stabilize it, or it stabilizes itself."

"So, back to Kristy." Leroy said. "We get her and Skipper together and… what happens?"

Jumba shrugged. "Depends. Once woman and little boy gets together, several things could happen."

"What's most likely to happen?" Lilo asked.

"Depends on current state of mind, as far as emotions go." Jumba said.

"Well, I have a little insight from when I was his prisoner." Stitch said. "He has a lot of anger and hatred. However, he has stated several times that there is nothing he is afraid of."  
"Ah, that is weakness." Jumba explained. "What will happen is overload and shut down of brain. Basically, when he sees woman, his subconscious will respond with fear. This will cause confusion: he will be afraid, and yet brain will tell him he isn't being scared of everything. Logic part of brain will battle back and forth for several moments before it comes to realization that it doesn't make sense, and will shut off until it does."

"But it won't be able to." Angel said.

"Yes, not until I give him his memory back when we get to lab." Jumba said. The room fell silent for a minute.

"So, we have a plan of subduing him. Now we need a plan to find him and attack him." Lilo said.

"Oh, that's just great!" Pleakly said. "Let's go attack him! Two of us have been tortured, and then Reuben got his heart clawed! Let's go run over to him and…" His voice was cut off by Jumba punching him in the face, knocking him to the floor. Everyone stared at Jumba, jaws dropped, and they saw tears flowing down his face. Jumba opened his mouth, obviously wanting to say something, but he didn't, and instead stomped out the door. Cobra sighed, and followed him out. Pleakly got up, and looked around the room: all present were giving him looks that would kill. He gulped, and ran out the door. Stitch sighed, and turned back to the others.

"Jumba shouldn't have hit him, but Pleakly has a bad habit of saying the dumbest things at the wrong time."

Lilo nodded. "He does." Everyone sat quietly for a moment, before Lilo stood up. "Well, I'm going to go and relax on the beach. Who else wants to come?"

Stitch stood up. "I could use a break. Are you two going to come?" He asked Angel and Victoria.

Angel nodded. "Sure."

Victoria shrugged. "Maybe I'll join you guys later. You go and have some fun." The trio walked out of the room, leaving Leroy and Victoria alone.

"So, how long have I really been out?" Leroy asked.

"Only a day or two. It was a really bad injury." She looked down at him. "Why did you do that, anyway?" She asked.

"Do what?"  
"Take the hit for me. From what I've heard, you aren't the one to do stuff like that."

"I don't really know. I saw you about to get hit, and I just moved."

Victoria smiled. "Yeah. You know, I haven't left here for a while; ever since you got hit."

"Why?"

"Well, you did take the blow for me, so I decided it was the least I could do." She said, averting her eyes from his.

Leroy saw the truth though. "You like me, don't you." He said, more of a statement then a question.

Victoria blushed. "No… no I don't." She stammered.

Leroy smiled. "Yeah you do."

"No I don't!" She said. Leroy huffed, wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close, and kissed her on the lips. He held her close for almost a minute, before the parted, Victoria blushing deeper then ever. "Now, look me in the eye, tell me you hated that, and I'll leave you alone."

Victoria, less then three inches from his face, looked into his eyes. She didn't want to admit that she liked him, but the sheer amount of love coming from his eyes told her she couldn't lie. "I… I… I like you a lot." She said. She wrapped her arms around him, and they pulled each other into another long, deep kiss.

Down on the beach, Lilo, Stitch, and Angel had found a nice, wide-open spot to lie down on. When they plopped down, Stitch looked over at Lilo.

"You know, I just thought of something: why did your other friends never ask when you disappeared on them?"

Lilo sighed. "I always knew that they weren't really my friends. I just kept telling myself they were, hoping that it might come true. I'm not even sure they really noticed when I stopped hanging around them. If they did, they never came around and asked."

Stitch nodded. "I never liked them much anyway. All they ever did was insult you and put you down. I always thought about beating up Myrtle for you, but I knew that you wouldn't approve of it."

"Even though I did it on a regular basis." Lilo said, smiling.

Angel looked over at them. "I thought we were here to relax, not talk about fighting."

"She's right." Lilo said. "Let's talk about something else."

"Why talk at all?" Angel asked. "Let's just lie here."

"Sounds fine to me." Stitch said, closing his eyes. An hour passed, in which everyone fell asleep at one point or another. Suddenly, they were all brought into wakefulness by a ringing. They looked around drowsily, and Angel pulled out a cell phone.

"When'd you get one of those?" Lilo asked, rubbing her eyes.

"I've had it for a while, ever since the Leroy war." She flipped it open. "Hello?" Lilo and Stitch paid little attention to her until her face turned to anxiety. Even with their hearing, neither of them could hear what was being said on the other side, though Angel didn't utter a syllable. After a minute, she flipped it shut, and stared out at the horizon.

"Is everything ok?" Lilo asked.

Angel shrugged. "More or less." She stared out for another moment, before turning around. "We need to go back. I have to talk to Jumba now." She set off at a brisk pace, and Lilo and Stitch followed. It didn't take them too long to get back to the house, and they went straight to the space ship. Angel glanced in the med bay first, and ducked out quickly. "Let's leave them alone for now." She said.

"Who's in there?" Lilo asked, going over to the door. Angel stopped her before she could see in.

"Don't worry about it now. Oh, Jumba!" Lilo turned around, to see Jumba walking out of one of the side doors.

"You is needing something 624?" He asked.

Angel nodded. "I just got a call from Skip." Everyone's mouths dropped open, but Angel continued before any of them could utter a word. "He got rid of Tiberius, and says he's trying to find 'his true self'. He wants me to meet up with him, so that he and I can talk. If my talking doesn't work, I think it would be a perfect time to test your fear theory."

"Where does he want to be meeting you?"

Angel shrugged. "He said he'll call me back with the time and location sometime tonight."

Jumba nodded. "This is good. Once we have little boy back, he will be able to tell us where Hamsterviel is. Then we can finish this once and for all before another… another of my… my…" He let out a sob, and ran back into the side room. Angel turned to the others.

"I didn't realize he was taking it so hard. This will hopefully get his mind off of things." The door to the med bay opened, and Victoria walked out.

"I thought we were going to the beach." She said.

"I got a call from Skipper." Angel replied. "He wants to meet me." She looked as the doors closed behind Victoria. "So, how's Leroy?" She asked. Stitch thought he heard a hint of teasing in her voice.

Victoria blushed. "He's fine. He just needs a little rest." Jumba came back out of the room, this time with a handkerchief. Angel smiled, as she thought of a way to get Jumba's mind of Reuben; it might be a little rude, but it would get Jumba's mind away.

"So, how does he kiss?" Angel asked. Victoria turned a very deep shade of magenta, while Jumba's jaw dropped open again, and Lilo and Stitch started laughing.

"You is having feelings for 629?" Jumba asked.

"M…m… maybe." Victoria stammered, causing Lilo and Stitch to laugh harder. However, their merriment was cut short by the door opening, and two figures walking in. The first was Cobra, and he was holding someone by the arm, someone Lilo never wanted to see again.

Kristy.

Please review and tell me what you think.


	10. Wish Upon a Star

Disclaimer: I do not own Lilo and Stitch.

Chapter 10: Wish Upon a Star

Lilo's blood boiled as she looked at her, but she said nothing. Cobra led her into the med bay, and returned a minute later.

"So, now all we have to do is find Skipper." Cobra said. Angel told him about the phone call, and he nodded. "This is good. All we have to do now is await his call, and then set up a plan."

"He won't call until about 10 or so." Angel said. "That's almost six hours away. We should just rest for now, and then we'll find him."

"We also need to find Hamsterviel." Stitch said. "If we don't get rid of him, we'll have more issues."

Lilo nodded. "While we're waiting for the call, we should try and find him. With Tiberius dead, and Skipper missing, he's going to be getting desperate, and probably move his plans up a step or two. He won't wait long, especially if he thinks Skip has turned back to our team."

Cobra looked around. "Ok, here's what were going to do; you are going to take Leroy inside. I will escort Kristy inside, and lock her in one of the rooms, watched by Kixx. Jumba and I will take the ship, and relieve Gantu so he can take a rest. All of you who are staying here should get some sleep. You've had some rough days, and it might get worse before it gets better. Pleakly will order dinner around 7:30, just in case we have to stay up late."

Victoria nodded. "Ok. I'll grab Leroy, and then we'll all head to the house for a nap. You guys can go and fly around and have fun." She disappeared into the med bay, and appeared a minute later supporting Leroy. "Let's go guys." Everyone but Jumba left the ship, and then Cobra went back. They watched the ship take off, and then they went by the beds.

"So, how do we divvy these up?" Stitch asked, motioning to the beds.

"I'll take the couch." Angel said, taking the lift down before anyone else could say a word.

"Ok." Lilo said. "Well, Leroy can have the bottom bunk, and Stitch and I will take the top. Victoria, you can go wherever you want."

Victoria looked around the room. "I'll take the sleeping bag." She said, motioning to the one in the corner. Everyone went to his or her spot, and all were asleep in a few minutes.

**Three hours later**

Lilo, Angel, and Stitch sat upstairs, eating their pizza. Lilo was getting a little sick of it. Pleakly was too busy cleaning to eat, while Victoria and Leroy ate down by the TV.

"So, what are we going to do after we eat?" Lilo asked. "We're still going to have almost three or four hours until he calls. We need something to do."

Stitch yawned between bites of pizza. "I think I'll go back to sleep."

Lilo punched him playfully on the shoulder. "Of course you do."

Angel looked outside. "I think I'll go out and walk under the stars."

"Mind if I go with you?" Lilo asked. "I don't feel like going back to sleep."

Angel nodded. "Sure. Once mister lazy blue is tucked in, we'll head out until I get the call."

"Hey, there's no need to insult me!" Stitch said. "I just need my beauty sleep."

"I don't think it'll help." Angel said, smiling.

"Fine." Stitch said. "I'll just tuck myself in." They all laughed, and finished off the pizza. Stitch crawled back I to bed, and Lilo and Angel took the lift downstairs. They decided not to peek in on Victoria and Leroy, and instead went straight outside. They walked down the stairs and out into the trees.

"You know, I've never really walked under the stars." Lilo said, looking up at the sky, while she continued walking with Angel.

Angel smiled. "Soon, Skipper and I will be able to do this. In a few ours he'll call, and I'll go pick him up." She sighed deeply. "I just hope everything works out ok."

Lilo put her arm around Angel. "You are such a pessimist. Just keep thinking happy thoughts." They walked in silence for a while, taking in the sheer beauty of the night. The wind had died down completely, and there was an eerie, yet wonderful silence over the trees and hills. They made it down by the ocean, and looked at the horizon. Only have of the full moon had risen, throwing an awesome array of white and blue light over the land. Angel found the silence awkward, and decided to talk again.

"So, how are you and Stitch doing?"

Lilo smiled. "Well, we're getting along just fine. We've gone on a few dates, but nothing amazingly special yet. I'm starting to kind of read his mind, and there's one question I think that keeps popping up in his head: when do we start a family."

Angel nodded. "I'm sure it is. When he and I were together, he was always asking me what it would be like to have kids, to be a father."

"I know." Lilo said. "And Jumba did say that we were both old enough to start one, but I don't think Nani quite agrees with that. Genetically, I'm twenty years old, and so is he. I'm smarter then a super computer, I'm ready to live my own life, but Nani just won't let go. It's really frustrating."

Angel turned to look at Lilo. "Maybe she won't let go because she isn't ready yet. I mean, she thought that she would have almost twenty years have you living under her rules. You've been around for twelve, thirteen years, and are ready to go and get an eternal lover. Especially right now, I think things are moving a little too fast for Nani, and she's trying to solve things as easily as possible, which is why she just said no, and didn't try and reason with you."

Lilo thought about it. "It does make sense. I mean, when she says I can't do something, she tries to compromise with me to make sure that I don't go out and do it without her knowing anyway. I think that the marriage is putting some pressure on her right now, with the honeymoon and all. Not only that, but all the changes that have come in the past half a year were probably heavy on her too. She just needs some time to adjust to all of this." A twig snapped, and they swiftly turned around: it was only Stitch.

"I thought you were going to get some more sleep." Angel said.

"I couldn't sleep." He said. "But if you really want me to leave…"

"No, stay here." Lilo said. "We could always use your company." Stitch joined them by the tide line, and the three of them sat in a semi circle, with Stitch and Angel on either side of Lilo.

"So, how do you think this'll all end?" Stitch asked.

Lilo sighed. "I hope it ends well."

Angel elbowed her. "What happened to being optimistic?"

"I'm trying to be, at least about Skipper. But Hamsterviel is a completely different story." She replied. "He'll find out soon that Skipper is coming back, and he'll either accelerate his plans, or go into hiding for a bit and make a new plan. I'd hate to say it, but our window for catching him isn't very big."

"We have to go after him as soon as we can." Stitch said. "Say, two days, and by the time we catch up to him, Leroy should be in ok shape to fight. If all goes well, Skipper could be also."

Angel sighed. "I hope so. This could all go wrong."

"Well, what does your heart say?" Lilo asked.

"That line is getting a little old." Angel said, smiling. "But, it's worth another shot, I guess." She closed her eyes, only the sound of the waves lapping up and down the beach breaking the silence. Stitch put his arm around Lilo, and they waited for Angel to say something. After almost five minutes, she slowly opened her eyes, and stared out at the moon, which had risen most of the way over the horizon.

"We're going to have Skipper back, but he'll be… changed, somehow." She said. "For the better or worse, I'm not sure."

Lilo smiled. "Well, at least he'll be back, right?"

Stitch nodded. "Ih!"

Angel looked back at them. "Thanks. I just hope I'm right." They all looked out at the moon. Stitch glanced up at the sky, and smiled.

"Hey, I can see Mars." He said, pointing to an exceptionally bright, red looking star. Lilo and Angel looked at where he was pointing, and smiled.

"Yeah, it is." Lilo said. "Do you think that it's a good sign, or a bad one?"

"Why do we keep going back to that?" Stitch asked. "There is no such thing as luck, karma, signs, or any of that stuff. There is only the illusion, held up by belief in it. If you keep telling yourself that bad things are going to happen to you all the time, it will. I'm not sure why, but that's how it works."

"So, it's more the belief then anything?" Lilo asked.

Stitch nodded. "Yep. But let's get off this subject of luck and omens and bad guys. Let's talk about something else."

"Like what?"

Stitch thought for a moment. "Like what we're going to do when Nani and David have a baby. Lilo's going to be an aunt then."

Lilo smiled. "No offense to anyone, but that is going to be one messed up kid by the time he starts school. I mean, he'll grow up around experiments, aliens, and all sorts of things, and then go to school where they say none of that stuff really exists."

"Why not just home-school him then?" Angel asked. "I mean, with all the knowledge of Jumba and the experiments, he should end up being a wiz in math and science. Nani and Lilo could teach him stuff like history, manners, and all that stuff."

Lilo laughed. "You really think Nani is going to let Jumba and Stitch teach her kid? She'll probably sell him to a circus before she lets us do that."

"Huh, you might be right about that." Angel said. She looked at Stitch and Lilo, and asked a question, before she even could think it through. "So, when are you two going to start a family?" Stitch and Lilo both turned a deep magenta, as did Angel after a moment. "I'm sorry, it just came out. I really shouldn't have asked that."

Lilo smiled. "It's fine. I guess that it's a good question. I'm not really sure where I stand on that. What about you Stitch?"

Stitch thought for a moment. "A family would be nice, but I think that Nani will end up having a say in it."

Lilo shook her head. "Not a chance. When I want to have a family with you Stitch, we're going to have one, whether she likes it or not. I'll build my own house if I have to."

Stitch rubbed his head against her stomach. "Whenever you decide, I'm ready."

Lilo caught Angel's eyes, and roller hers. "That's very nice to know Stitch. Hey Angel, when are you and Skip going to start a family?""

Angel shrugged. "We never really talked about it much. I hope that we do soon after he comes back, but I won't rush it. Especially after all he's been through, and what he might still go through."

"That's probably a good idea." Stitch said, his head still unmoved from Lilo's stomach. "Just give him a few days, and then bring it up." In the distance, a wolf howled.

"I didn't know there were wolves on Hawaii." Angel said.

"I believe Jumba might be the reason. I've caught him once or twice trying to bring animals onto the island that don't normally live here." Stitch said. "I'm not sure why, but he did. He likes to experiment too much, I guess."

"Yeah." Angel said. "He's probably going to be the one that somehow destroys the island, by putting the wrong animal or something on it. But until that happens, just let him. Unless you would rather he flies around the world to study these animals."

Lilo shook her head. "No, it's safer for him to do it here where we can keep an eye on him, and some of the experiments can keep an eye on the animals." They continued looking up, and suddenly Angel pointed to something. "Look, a shooting star!" Lilo and Stitch followed her finger, and saw the star shoot over the horizon.

"We each need to make a wish." Lilo said. They closed their eyes, and thought hard.

_I wish that I would find Skipper safe and sound_. Angel thought.

_I wish Nani would let Stitch and I start a family_. Lilo thought.

Stitch wondered what to wish for, and then smiled. _I wish that everything that's happening now would end happily for all of us here on Earth_. He thought. They waited several more seconds, before they opened their eyes.

"Will it work?" Angel asked.

Lilo nodded. "It did for me, as long as you don't tell anyone what you wished for." A quiet ring rang out in the darkness. Angel snatched up her phone and looked at it.

"It's him." She whispered.


	11. He's Back

Disclaimer: I do not own Lilo and Stitch.

Chapter 11: He's Back

Angel opened the phone and put it on speaker so everyone present could hear. "Skip, is that you?" She asked, staring at the phone.

"Yeah, it's me. I don't want to keep this open long incase someone is trying to trace the call. I'll meet you at the southernmost tip of Down Under. Do you understand?" Angel looked up at Lilo, confused. However, after Lilo motioned her to respond, Angel cleared her throat.

"Sure. When?"

"As soon as possible. I would prefer you come alone, but I have this feeling that you're going to bring a few extra friends along. One last thing: if you aren't here in five hours, I'll change the time and location. See you soon." They heard a click, and then only the dial tone.

Angel looked up at them. "What does he mean 'Down Under'?"

Lilo explained. "Down Under is kind of a nickname for Australia. So, what he wants is for us to be at the southernmost of Australia within the next five hours."

Angel nodded. "Ok, let's go grab the others then. The sooner we head out, the better. I don't want to miss him." They ran back to the house and through the door. Cobra and Jumba were sitting on the couch, talking.

"We got the call." Stitch said. Cobra and Jumba both stood up, and they started towards the ship.

"When and where?" Cobra asked.

"Southernmost tip of Australia within five hours. So, what exactly are we going to do?" She asked as they boarded the ship.

"When he comes out, we'll wait a few minutes. After he gets a little comfortable, we'll force Kristy out." He said, as they strapped in and Jumba started up the engines. "If Jumba's hypothesis is correct, then he should go unconscious fairly quickly. After he does, we grab him, strap him down, and head back. While we're heading back, Jumba will try and fix his memories." The ship shook, and soon they were flying over the Pacific.

"It shouldn't take too long to get there, right?" Angel asked.

Stitch nodded. "Especially in this ship. Should only take hour at most."

"Let's all just relax." Lilo said. "We won't help if we worry about what's at the end of the road."

"I agree with Lilo." Cobra said. "We shouldn't worry about what might or might not happen in the future. The now is worrisome enough." The rest of the trip was spent in silence, everyone anticipating the upcoming encounter. Even Jumba kept his mouth shut the entire trip, not even announcing the landing, although everyone was buckled in so it didn't matter. The ship gave one last shudder, and the engines wound down.

"Ok, final plan check." Cobra said. "Angel, you head out and meet with Skipper. I don't think that you'll be able to convince him to come with us. Undoubtedly, he'll be far too suspicious about everything to volunteer to have his head examined, even by you."

Angel nodded. "Just as long as he's safe and in his right mind by tomorrow night, I'll be happy." She walked to the door, and shuddered as she looked outside. The sun had just finished setting over the horizon, again. Stitch came up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"You can do it." He said. Angel gritted her teeth, and slowly walked off of the ship. When she reached the bottom of the ramp, she looked straight ahead, which happened to be south. There was still a few hundred feet to the tip, so she trudged off in that direction. When she got there, she sat down and waited. After a minute, she heard the snapping of a twig, and a rustle from the trees close by. She stood up and looked, just as someone emerged from the trees:

Skipper.

She wanted to run at him, throw her arms around him and pull him tightly, never letting go. But she knew that he would only push her away right now.

"I saw the ship." Skipper said. "I didn't realize you would bring _that _many with you."

"There all concerned about you Skip." Angel said. "They want you to come back."

"To what? I don't remember you, the blue guy, or any of you at all. How do I know that this isn't some sort of trick?"

"You called me tonight because you said you could trust me." Angel said. "Trust me now." She offered Skipper her paw. He looked at it and sighed deeply.

"After what may or may not have happened to me, I don't know if I can even trust my own memories." Skipper said sadly. "And, I'm sorry, but I'm not about to let anyone get inside my head right now."

"Then why did you ask me here?"

"Well, I could use someone by me while I figure things out." He said. Suddenly, another voice rang out.

"Why don't you ask me?" Skipper and Angel spun around, as the figure stepped out of the shadows:

Kristy.

Skipper stumbled back, some inner force warning him to run far away. His head told him there was nothing to fear, that he should stand his ground, and yet his heart told him to run far away and hide. His vision suddenly got very blurry, as he battled back and forth in his mind. As he fell over, Angel caught him.

"Skip, are you ok? She asked, fear filling her voice. Skipper's head spun faster as his argument against himself became fiercer and faster. After a few more moments, everything went black. Angel picked up his prostrate form, as Cobra came from the shadows and re-handcuffed Kristy. They all went back to the ship, where Kristy was thrown back in one of the other rooms, and Angel and Skipper went to the med bay. As the ship took off, she laid him carefully on one of the beds, and waited for Jumba to come in. After a few minutes of flight, the door hissed open and he walked in.

"Jumba, how are we going to get his memories back?" Angel asked.

Jumba put a device on Skip's head. "That is easy. Creating amnesia like this involves having to cut off neural pathways to all memories. What I am going to do is reset those pathways to make them clear."

"Okaaaaaaaaaay. So how long will this take to work?"

Jumba shrugged. "Should only take a few minutes to reset them, and then probably an hour or so for pathways to reestablish. After that, he will need to be waking up, and have no idea how long that will take. More then likely though, he will be up by tomorrow night."

Angel nodded. "Ok. Just don't hurt him too much." The device hummed to life, and sent a series of electric shocks coursing through his head and body. After about five minutes, the device wound down, and Jumba removed it from Skip's head.

"Nothing to do now but wait. I suggest you is not being here when he wakes up. I am not sure what kind of mind he will be being in, so is better safe then sorry." Jumba walked out of the door, and Angel turned back to Skipper.

"Don't worry, everything will be ok soon." She whispered, slowly running her hand through his head fur. "Then we'll be one big, happy ohana again." She didn't know how long she sat there, but soon her eyelids started to shut. At first she resisted, but she realized how truly tired she was. Not only that, but how late, actually now early, it was in the day. She leaned against Skipper, and fell asleep in a moment.

**Noon**

Angel slowly opened her eyes, and was confused why she was in the med bay. The memories of the previous night, and early morning, came rushing back to her. She looked to her left, and Skipper was there. By the look of it he was still unconscious, but she smiled all the same. She wondered how long it would take for him to wake up, and she glanced at the clock. Seeing the time, she decided it was time for some food. She was about to get up when the door opened and Stitch walked in, a plate of food in his hands.

"I was hoping you would wake up soon." He said, coming to stand next to her. "Otherwise you might have woken up really, really hungry." He sat next to her and handed her the tray. "So, think he'll wake up soon?"

Angel started eating, talking between mouthfuls. "Jumba said by tonight, so really soon. But he doesn't want me to be around when he does wake up, just in case things didn't go right."

"I just hope he's ok. He's been through a lot in the past few days." Stitch said. Angel finished her meal in silence, and when she finished, they walked back to the house together.

"Hey Angel!" Victoria called. "We've been waiting for you to wake up." Angel sat down next to her on the couch. "Lilo only woke up an hour ago."

"What about Jumba?" Angel asked.

Stitch shook his head. "Never went to sleep. He's been up the entire time, doing calculations and stuff. Not sure exactly what for, but he's doing it anyway."

"So, what should we do?" Lilo asked, coming into the room.

Angel shrugged. "I don't care, as long as we don't go too far away. I want to be around when Skipper wakes up."

Lilo nodded. "Sure, let's go up to my room and find something to do."

**Hamsterviel's Ship**

Hamsterviel sat in his chair, drumming his fingers on the armrest. As usual, he was talking to himself.

"So, Tiberius is now dead. Doesn't matter, I should have let that Skipper deal with the dealing of him ages ago. However, the question now is where that Skipper went. If I had to guessing with a guess, I would say he is hiding from me. Maybe he has remembered his true life. If he has, and I must assume that he has, then I will have to change my clever planning." He activated his com system, and put in a number.

"Yes Doctor Hamsterwheel?" The voice at the other end asked.

"Hamsterviel, Hamsterviel!" He yelled back. "I want to know if it is ready."

"Yes sir. All it needs now is to mature." Hamsterviel nodded, and then turned it off.

"So, now what?" He asked himself. "I do not want to use those useless Leroys, but I cannot attack the little earth girl and all her stupid experiments without some help. I should go into hiding for some time to formulate a new brilliant plan. But where?" He searched his planetary index for a planet. "Hmmm, the one next to Earth should do. It is a resplendent red, which goes with my cape perfectly. Not only that, but that is the last place they will expect me to be hiding. They will think that I am either far away, or else I am hiding somewhere on Earth, where I can strike at them within a moment's notice. I have enough supplies to last for quite some time." He turned on his hyperdrive, and set the coordinates. A moment later, he was hurtling through space.

It took him an hour to get to his destination, and he dropped out right above the planet. He flew the ship down towards the surface.

"Warning! Engine current contaminated. Emergency shutdown in… 30 seconds." The computer rang out, as red lights started to flash all over the ship.

"At least I can land this thing." Hamsterviel said. He struggled with the controls, and just touched down as the engines turned off.

"Computer, run diagnostic of engine current." Hamsterviel ordered.

"Running diagnostic." The computer replied. Hamsterviel tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the report. Five minutes later, the screen displayed a picture of the engine power current, highlighting a section in red.

"Power transfer conduit B ruptured. Thrusters and left engine are offline."

Hamsterviel growled with anger. "How dare you bring me bad news, you computer that thinks it is so smart! If what you say is true, then I cannot take off this planet!" He attempted to activate the com system, but all he got was static. "Note to self: always buy ships new, not used. If you don't have the money, steal a new ship." He stroked his chin, thinking of what to do. "If I want to get off of this planet, I will need to fix the com so I can call for help. At least I have the manual to tell me how to do it."

Ok, so with all the homework, I have no time to type. But, having all the hard classes now means that I will have plenty of time next semester to work on this stuff. Please review.


	12. Coming to Terms

Disclaimer: I do not own Lilo and Stitch.

Chapter 12: Coming To Terms

Jumba had waited in his room by the window, waiting to go into the ship until Angel had left. He had been trying to figure out what possible psychological side affects that Skipper might go through after such a trauma. He had come to the conclusion that Skipper might attempt to do… something stupid. After he saw Angel walk off with Stitch, he had waited a minute, and then gone out the back door and up to the ship. He went inside the med bay and sealed the door behind him.

"I just hope that my hypothesis is being wrong." Jumba said. "Because if it isn't, will just make whole thing a lot more complicated." He went to a compartment and pulled out several restraining clamps, and put them on Skipper's body, across the feet, knees, waist, stomach, chest, neck, and head, securing him tightly to the bed. He went over to the computer and started to type. "Only way to cure this will be to get rid of Hamsterviel. I do not believe that there is any other way." He looked over the recent scans and data on the search for Hamsterviel, but nothing new had come up. He sighed, and leaned back in his chair. There was nothing he could really do at the moment to help anyone: he couldn't help find Hamsterviel, he couldn't help Skipper until he was conscious, and probably not even then, and he wouldn't be able to help Angel when she found out how Skipper would react. He moaned and stood up, starting to pace around the room. Again, he was another helpless pawn in the game of Fate, with no way to change his position. He slammed his fist against the wall in anger, bruising it, but not really caring. He looked down at Skipper, and sighed again. He decided that Skip wouldn't wake up for a while, so he decided to take nap. He went to the other med bed and lay down. He was asleep a moment later.

Inside the house, Lilo, Stitch, Angel, and Victoria were hanging out watching TV. It wasn't really for fun; it was more to kill time. They hadn't found anything to really do up in Lilo's room, so they had come back down and turned it on. They were completely spaced out, so they had no idea what was on. They were like this for almost an hour, before a knock on the door brought them back to reality. Lilo went and opened the door.

"Hey Sparky! Hey Sample! How are you guys?" Lilo said, letting them come in. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We came to see how you guys were doing." Sparky said. "We also came to see how Skipper was." There wasn't an experiment around that didn't know about what had happened with 628, thanks to Nosy, so they weren't surprised to see Lilo and Victoria in experiment form.

"How'd you know Skipper came back?" Angel asked.

"Nosy, who else?" Sample said. "He came and told everyone about that everyone was finally back. A lot of us wanted to come and see you guys, but we decided that only a few of us should come to keep things less crowded. So are you guys all ok?"

Stitch stood up and shook their hands. "We could be better, but we'll be ok. We're still waiting to see how Skipper is doing; he's unconscious right now. How about you guys?"

"Yeah Spark." Lilo said, using his nickname. "How's Clip doing?"

Sparky smiled. "She's doing fine. We're going to have a kid in three months. Sample here has his eyes on Carmen."

Sample flushed. "He's exaggerating. We hang out every now and then."

"He took her to Mexico City for a weekend." Sparky said. "Nosy says that they're getting really cozy together."

"Good for you Sample." Stitch said, patting him on the back. "I hear she's a really nice gal."

"Thanks." Sample said. "So, is it true that Leroy's good now? I thought Nosy might be pushing that part a bit."

"Yeah, he's good now." Victoria said, joining the conversation. "He's sleeping in the guest bedroom right now. Jumba moved him out of there when we brought Skip back so he could move the bed out and have more room to work. Jumba says that Skip should wake up by tonight, so we'll go see him later."

"You guys hungry?" Angel asked. "I could heat you guys some pizza."

"That'd be nice." Sparky said. "We've been busy lately, and haven't had much to eat." They sat down in chairs while Angel went into the kitchen, returning a minute later with some pizza.

"So, anything else Nosy told you we might find interesting?"

**Jumba's Ship**

Jumba woke up to his computer beeping. He rolled off of the bed, stretching and yawning. He looked up at the computer, which showed that there was increased brain activity.

"Looks like he will be waking up soon." Jumba said. "Now is the time for waiting, watching, and Earth people praying." He turned around, and stood next to the med bed Skipper was lying on. After a few minutes, he saw Skipper flinch a bit.

And then Skipper began to open his eyes.

**The House**

Sparky was talking to everyone, spreading the word about what Nosy had found out about things, but Angel wasn't paying attention. She was staring out the window at the ship, wondering how long it would be until Skipper woke up. She wanted to be there when it happened, but if she left, everyone else might tear up the house. Right now, Pleakly was out shopping, and she was the only one around to make sure they didn't get out of hand.

"So Nosy was spreading around this rumor about Kixx beating and pickin' on some of the other experiments, right? So, he goes over to Nosy and says 'I can't have done that. I've been at the boxing championship this entire month. But I can make good on that rumor.' So he goes and breaks Nosy's nose." Sparky said, laughing with the others.

"I don't think he had to do that." Lilo said. "He could have just threatened him. He didn't have to do that.

"Yeah, but that was about two months ago, and Nosy hasn't spread a false rumor yet." Sample said. "I think he got scared into telling the truth for now."

"Give it a few more months, and he'll be back at it." Stitch said, leaning back in his chair. "He'll leave Kixx alone, though." Someone shuffled into the room, and the turned around to see it was Leroy.

"Hey Leroy, glad your up!" Victoria said, scooting to one side of the chair so he could sit with her.

"Hey Leroy." Sparky said, a little stiffly. Even though he knew that Leroy had turned good, he still held some suspicions about him. However, he was generally too kind to show it.

"Hey guys." Leroy said, sitting next to Victoria. "How're you guys doing?"

"We're fine." Sample said. "So, Nosy's been spreading rumors about you."

"Oh really, did he say I killed someone?"

Sample shook his head. "No, he said that you and Victoria were going out together."

Leroy shook his head. "How does he find all this stuff out? I mean, it's what he's supposed to do, but couldn't he do it worse so we could have _some_ privacy?"

Stitch laughed. "If anything, Nosy likes to invade people's privacy. Apparently, it's far more interesting to spread more… _personal_ rumors."

"If you want _true_ privacy, you'll have to find a way to make sure that there is no way he can here you." Sparky said.

"I don't think that's possible." Lilo said. "In order to get completely away from him, you'd have to be a galaxy over."

"Nope, you won't be safe there." Nosy said, climbing in the window.

"What are you doing here?" Leroy asked.

"Being Nosy. It's what I do." He said, sitting on the table. "I'm starting to run out of news, and I overheard that Sparky and Sample were coming here, so I decided to drop by and find something juicy to spread."

"Guess you'll have to wait for Skip to wake up." Angel said, finally joining the conversation. "We haven't said anything that you'd find interesting."

"Well, maybe you need to do some more talking." Nosy said. He pulled out a tape recorder, and put it on the table, pushing in the record button. "I'm going to go snoop around the ship. Just pretend this recorder isn't even here." He climbed back out the window, leaving them alone again. Stitch looked out the window to make sure he was gone, and then promptly ate the recorder.

"Now we can talk." Stitch said.

"Not that anything we were talking about was private." Angel said.

**Jumba's Ship**

Skipper moaned. "My head is killing me. Where the hell am I?"

"You is back on my ship." Jumba said. "How much is you remembering?"

Skipper thought for a moment. "Well, I remember sending you guys off to hit Hamsterviel's ship. We thought it was underwater, and I was injured, so I stayed behind to watch over you guys and make sure everything went right."

"And then?" Jumba asked.

"Then…" Skipper racked his brain, and then suddenly, every memory from the past several months, particularly the past few days and weeks, came crashing down on him. He remembered everything, from the start of his 'service' to Hamsterviel, to the torture he inflicted on Angel and Stitch, to his meeting up with them in Australia. To him, these memories were a slap in the face. More then that: everything he had built here, the friends and relationships he had made, since he had arrive over six months ago, were now shattered. The realization hit him, but he refused to accept it.

"Jumba, is what I remember… real? Skipper asked, in a scared voice.

Jumba sighed heavily. "I'm afraid it is."

Skipper nodded sadly. "Let me go." He said.

"Why?"

Skipper turned his head to look at him. "So I can kill myself."

**Lilo's House**

"So, you guys have any plans in the next few weeks?" Angel asked.

Sparky shook his head. "Not really. I'm spending more time at home now, with Clip going to have our kids soon."

"Carmen and I are going to see a movie tomorrow night." Sample said. "What about you guys?"

"Well, we're going to lie down for a bit and make sure that Skip and Leroy are ok. After that, we'll probably go back out looking for Hamsterviel. We lost him a little while ago, but we have time."

"He'll show up eventually." Leroy said. "Either we find him, or he launches his plan."

Lilo nodded. "Unfortunately, I would have to agree with him on that. Unless we get lucky, Hamsterviel will keep hidden until he wants to be found." They fell silent, until Angel spoke up.

"I'm going to go check on Skip. I'll probably be back soon." She stood up and walked out.

"I feel sorry for her and Skipper." Lilo said. "They're getting the worst end of all of this fight. Unfortunately, I think that it's going to get worse before it gets better."

Stitch nodded. "Yeah, they're going through hell right now. And it's only going to get worse when Skipper realizes what he's done."

**Jumba's Ship**

"I will not let you out."

"Let me out, or I'll break out." Skipper snarled.

"Go ahead and try. You cannot break them." Jumba said. "And why would you want to be killing yourself."

"Jumba, I'm a monster." Skipper said sadly. "After everything I've done, the best thing to do will be to die. I will no longer be able to hurt anyone."

"What about Angel?"

"Especially Angel." Skipper replied. "Ever since I've come here, I've done nothing but hurt Lilo and her ohana. No can forgive what I've done."

"You haven't asked, or even _seen_ them. How do you know?"

Skipper sighed. "It doesn't matter Jumba. Just let me go."

Jumba shook his head. "I won't do that. Now, I is needing to leave for few moments, but will be back soon." He walked out the door, making sure to lock it before him. He walked down the corridor, where he ran in to Nosy and Angel.

"And so, Skip thinks no one will like him again, so he wants to go off himself." Nosy said.

Angel looked up at Jumba, tears in her eyes. "Jumba, is this true?"

Jumba sat down. "He needs you right now, 624. He has shattered his own heart, and cannot pick up the pieces alone. If I am correct, he can't even begin to try and pick those pieces up. After all he's been through, I believe he wishes his heart to remain broken, so he never feels any sort of happiness again."

"I can change his mind." Angel said, trying to sound more confident then she felt. "He needs to realize that I still love him, and everyone still loves him as ohana, and doesn't blame him for anything that he did while under Hamsterviel's control."

Jumba nodded. "Good luck 624. Nosy will get others, and we will all wait for you here." Angel walked through the doors, and they shut behind her. A few minutes later, Stitch, Lilo, Victoria, Leroy, Pleakly, Sparky, Sample, and Nosy came on to the ship and sat down.

"Will he be ok Jumba?" Lilo asked.

"Does it really matter?" Pleakly asked. "I mean, after all the stuff he's done, how can we just forgive him? I mean, really…" He never finished his sentence, as Victoria picked him up, and threw him head first off of the ship, closing the ramp behind him. Everyone stared at her with open mouths.

"What?" She said. "I have a slightly violent side to me. Besides, I couldn't just sit there and let him tear at Skip, now could I?"

On the other side of the med bay doors, Angel stood watching Skipper struggle to get out of the bonds that held him. Taking a deep breath, she walked up slowly.

"Hey Skip." She said.

Skipper turned his head away. "Go away Angel. I'm nothing but a monstrosity." Angel took off all of the restrainers and sat down.

"Skip, you aren't a monster, and you never have been. You're a kind, sweet person, who was forced to do something against his will. No one blames you."

"Everyone blames me. I can't go out and face them. I don't deserve to, and they don't deserve to be put through that torture." He sat up, and put his back to her.

"And killing yourself will just make all the problems go away, huh?" Angel asked. "It won't, it will only cause more. Why can't you see that?"

"There's nothing to see." He replied. "Everyone hates me now, and I can't curse them with my existence." Angel moved and sat next to him.

"No, everyone is ready to forgive you. You just need to ask them."

Skipper looked at her. "Why are you doing this? Why can't you just leave me alone and let me end this… this nightmare?"

Angel looked at him in the eye. "Because even after what you were forced to do to me, I still love you with all my heart." Skipper stared back into her eyes. Suddenly, he broke down, and started sobbing uncontrollably. Angel put her arms around him and pulled him close, allowing him to cry on her shoulder. She slowly and gently stroked the back of his head. She felt his arms wrap around her, as he pulled her close.

"Don't ever leave me Angel." He said through his tears. "Don't ever leave me."

She patted his head. "I never will, boogee boo."


	13. Happy Reunion

Disclaimer: I do not own Lilo and Stitch.

Chapter 13: Happy Reunion

Angel held Skipper for what felt like hours, but in reality was only half an hour. The whole time, he sobbed on her shoulder, and she held him in her arms. He eventually stopped, and when she looked down, she realized that he had fallen asleep. She carefully set him back down on the bed, used water to wash his tear-stained face, dried it, and pulled the covers up to his neck. After kissing his cheek, she dimmed the lights, and walked out. She saw that everyone was still there, except for Pleakly.

"Is he ok?" Lilo asked in a scared voice.

Angel nodded. "He'll be fine; as long as we're there for him. What happened to Pleakly?"

"Victoria threw him off the ship for having a go at Skip." Nosy said. "You'd think he'd have learned his lesson by now to just keep his mouth shut. I mean, just about everyone here has either hit him, or thrown him for not keeping his mouth shut."

"Pleakly was always a little slow." Jumba said. "But I think he may have learned his lesson by now."

"We can only hope." Lilo said. "I don't think he can handle being thrown again."

"So, what do we do now?" Leroy asked.

"There's only one thing left _to_ do." Lilo said. "Track down Hamsterviel."

"I have a better idea." Angel said. "Let's just… hang out. The past few days have been hell. Now that Skip is getting better, let's take a day or two off, and just take a break. After that, we can contact the Grand Council Woman, and work together to find Hamsterviel."

"I like that idea." Victoria said. "We can have pizza, play games, watch movies, and just… be together."

"Like a mini-vacation." Stitch said.

"Which is exactly what we need." Jumba finished.

"It's agreed then." Angel said. "Anyone caught doing work related to Hamsterviel is to be tied to the couch for the remainder of the vacation." Everyone smiled, and they put down the ship's ramp, and walked back to the house. However, when they got there, Jumba pulled Victoria aside.

"What is it Jumba?"

"Shush." Jumba said. He led her to his room, and closed the door behind them. "I is wondering what your plan is with Leroy."

"What do you mean?" Victoria asked, confused.

"I know you is liking him, and if relationship goes more… serious, what are you going to do about your parents."

Victoria sighed. "I hadn't exactly thought about that. What _can_ I do?"

"Well, we have already agreed that they cannot know about aliens and such, am I right?" Victoria nodded. "Then, the only way that this will work out is if we use experiment 303."

"Which does…what?"

"With slight tweaking, I could make them forget about you."  
"You mean… make them forget that I exist?"

"I wish there was another way to do this, but there isn't. If you want to be with Leroy, then you must make your parents forget about you."

Victoria groaned. "How can I possibly make a decision like this?"

"Well, if it helps, neither choice is right or wrong." Victoria sighed, and after a minute, shook her head.

"You're wrong. The wrong decision would be to ignore my feelings for Leroy, mask them to keep my parents happy. But I can't do that. He needs me, and I need him."

"Are you sure you want to decide so hastily?" Jumba asked. "We have plenty of time."

Victoria smiled. "I have the feeling that this decision was made over six months ago, back when I was hit by 628. I knew that I would either have to face my parents, or give them up. I don't like the idea, but I have to."

"Ok, I will get started after little vacation." He went to open the door, but Victoria stopped him.

"Could you do me a favor?" Victoria asked. "Give them some extra money, and get let them move to Australia. It was always my parents' dream to go live there, they just needed a some more money."

Jumba nodded. "I will. I will also say nothing of this to others. This is your business, and if you want them to know, you can tell them yourself."

Victoria gave Jumba a quick hug. "Thank you." They walked out and joined the others, who were busy popping some popcorn in the microwave.

"I was wondering where you disappeared to." Lilo said as they waked in. "We're going to call for pizza around five, and we're just going to snack on junk food until then."

"Sounds fine to me." Victoria said. "I already called my parents, and they're letting me stay all day today and tomorrow. They also agreed to let me sleep over both nights."

"Cool." Lilo said. "We're going to put in Dracula once we're all settled in. Stitch went out to get some candy and stuff, so once he's back we'll be able to sit down for the night, except for paying for the pizza when it comes." The popcorn finished after a minute, and Stitch was back just as they finished splitting it between the group. They closed the shades and turned off the lights, making it very dark inside. They put sat down, and put the movie on.

As the others watched the movie, Victoria sat next to Leroy, enveloped in her thoughts. She cared deeply for Leroy, and didn't want to leave him. But could she give up her parents? Did she have the right to erase the memories of her own parents? She battled within herself, not sure which was truly right. She had already made the decision, but she could change her mind. But as she had said before: was there a right or wrong decision? She was sure that being with Leroy was the right decision. After all, she couldn't make Leroy forget about her without him returning to evil. With Jumba's help, her parents would never remember her, and they'd be better off. They would have a bit more money, live where they had always wanted to, and not have to worry about a daughter falling in love with an alien. As the movie drew to a close, Victoria decided that her decision had already been made, and it had been the best one she could make.

"Time to order pizza!" Lilo exclaimed. She counted the number of people. "Nine of us, all but one are experiments, so we are going to need a _lot_ of pizza. I would say…five or six large pizzas. I'll call, and when it comes Jumba can pay for it. We'll eat, and then find another movie to put in."

"I'm going to go see if Skipper is up yet. I bet he's pretty hungry after everything that's happened." Angel said.

"We'll be waiting." Sparky said.

"Can I use the phone?" Sample asked. "I have to make a quick call."

Stitch tossed him a communicator. "Sure. I bet Carmen is waiting?" Everyone burst out laughing, as Sample turned red and left the room.

Angel walked out of the house and towards the ship. As the ramp loomed ahead of her, her mind started to weigh down with worries. Everything that had happened the last few days, especially today, came down to this one moment, and two questions: was he truly able to forgive himself, and was he able to believe that everyone was ready to forgive him? She stopped at the med bay door, scared to go in. It took her a minute to work up the courage to walk in the room. She closed her eyes, opened the door, and walked in. When she opened her eyes, she sighed in relief: he was still sleeping on the med bed. She wondered if she should just let him sleep, but decided that he definitely needed to eat. She went over to the bedside and gently shook him.

"Time to wake up sleepyhead." Skipper yawned and opened his eyes.

"Hey." He said, sitting up.

"We're hanging out over at the house." Angel said. "We're about to order pizza and watch a movie. It'd be great if you joined us."

Skipper looked down. "Do you think that's a wise choice?" He asked. "I mean, are you sure that they aren't going to just hurt me?"

Angel stood him up. "They aren't going to hurt you at all." She said confidently. "They've forgiven you completely. All you have to do is be ready to accept their forgiveness."

Skipper sighed. "Are you sure?"

She led him out the doors and down the ramp. "I am completely sure. Besides, we have company, who came over to see how you were doing. I know you have never really been introduced to any of them, but Stitch and Nosy have told just about everyone about you and what you've done. By the sounds of it, you could have your own fan club going." They approached the door, and Skipper hesitated outside.

"You sure?"

Angel nodded. "Let's go." Skipper reached out, and slowly opened the door.

"Hey Angel, what'd he say?" Lilo called from the kitchen.

"Come and see for yourself." Angel said. Lilo glanced around the doorway.

"SKIP!!!" She shouted, running and jumping on him, giving him a tight hug. "Guys, Skip is back!" Everyone poured out of the kitchen and started hugging him.

"Let's get organized." Victoria said. "Group hug!" Everyone dog piled on top of Skipper.

"Guys, it would really help me to be able to breath." Skipper gasped. One by one, everyone got off of Skip.

"It's good to see you again." Stitch said, picking him off the floor. "By the way, this is Sparky and Nosy. Sample is here to, but he's on the phone."

"With Carmen, his new girlfriend." Nosy called out.

"You know, I got lost with who's with who." Stitch said.

Nosy thought for a moment then started ticking off with his fingers. "Well, Sparky has Clip, Carmen and Sample are getting together, Bonnie and Clyde, Yin and Yang, Gigi has been hanging around Finder a lot lately, and Swapper has his eyes set on Belle."

Lilo whistled. "I knew you were well informed, but not quite _that_ well."

Nosy shrugged. "What can I say, I'm just nosy."

Jumba came over by the door. "I need to be asking you to clear away from door. Pizza will be arriving in just few moments, and I would be liking you to be away when it arrives. Is easier then having to explain why so many dogs are around." The others relocated upstairs to Lilo's room. When they got there, Sample was jut hanging up the phone.

"Hey guys, pizza coming soon?" He asked.

"Yeah, in a minute or two." Lilo said.

Skipper sat down on the bed. "I bet you guys all hate me after what I did to you." He said sadly.

"No were not." Stitch said, sitting down next to him. "We know that it wasn't really you who did all that stuff to us, it was Hamsterviel controlling you."

"Besides, just look on the bright side." Leroy said, sitting down on his other side. "If this hadn't happened I'd still be in prison, and I'd still be evil."

"And I'd be short a boyfriend." Victoria said.

"You two are going out?" Skip asked.

Stitch nodded. "Yeah, after he saved Victoria from that slice of yours, they fell for each other."

"Oh, it started far before that." Angel said. "He was already warming up to her a while before that."

Skipper looked down. "Yeah, but… Reuben."

"That wasn't your fault." Angel said firmly. "Tiberius got him, and you got Tiberius. The only part you played in Tiberius' death was distributing justice to his killer."

"I would have to agree with Angel." Lilo said.

Skipper sighed. "I guess you're right." He said slowly.

"Look, the only bad thing that's come out of this is what happened to Reuben." Angel said. "Other then that, it's been fine. Leroy turned good, Victoria and he are together, Tiberius is dead, Hamsterviel is on the run, and we're all back together."

"Pizza is ready!" Jumba called. Everyone but Skipper went downstairs. He stayed sitting on the bed for a minute, going over everything in his head.

_So they really do forgive me_. He finally decided. He smiled for the first time in months, and took the lift down.

"Hey Skip, how about some pepperoni?" Angel asked, offering him the box.

"That'd be fine." He said, taking some of the pieces. "So what movie are we going to watch now?"

"Undecided." Lilo said as they moved back by the TV. "I mean, there's a lot of choices."

"Well, I have a call to make." Leroy said. "I'll be right back." As the others talked about the movie choices, Leroy slipped outside, and after making sure that no one was following him, he pulled out his communicator.

"Is this a secure line?"

"It always is Aros." Leroy said.

"Haven't heard from you in a while. What's up?" Aros asked.

"Well, Dr. Hamsterviel and I got… separated on our last voyage, and I've been trying to hook back up with him. Has he called you recently?"

"Actually, he called me not too long ago. He was checking up on something."

Leroy smirked. "Did you find out where he is?"

Aros nodded. "I always do. As usual though, it's going to cost you."

"I don't want him to know I'm coming." Leroy said.

"That's going to cost you more then." Aros said happily. "I'm sure that you have the cash."

"How much?" Leroy asked impatiently.

Aros stroked his chin. "I would say… ten thousand."

Leroy snorted. "Five."

"Nine."

"Six and a half."

"Eight."

"Done." Leroy said. "It'll be transferred after you hang up."

"Good. He's in Area 51, on a planet called… Mars; kind of an odd name if you ask me. According to my research, it was the Roman god of war in Earth's history."

"Fine. I'll send you the money in a moment; I hope you spend it well." The line terminated, and Leroy redialed.

"Intergalactic Bank, how may we be of service?"

"Hi, I would like to make a transfer of funds." Leroy said. "My account number is 987605001, and my password Alpha-Bravo-November-Mike-13.

There was a moment of silence. "Ok, and where would you like to transfer it to?"

"I would like to transfer it to account number 090814233."

"Ok, and how much would you like to transfer?"

"Eight thousand." There was more typing, and a longer silence, which started to make Leroy impatient.

"Ok, the transfer was complete. Your current balance sits at five point two million. Will there be anything else?"

"No, there won't be." Leroy said.

"Have a good day." The line disconnected, and Leroy smiled.

"Now all I need is a ship." He said to himself. As he turned around, he winced as pain ran from his shoulder to his hip, right along where the cut had been. He went down to his knees, teeth locked in a grimace, and stood back up when the pain subsided. "And I need to figure out a way to get rid of this pain." He walked back up to the house, where everyone was waiting for him.

"So what are we watching?" He asked, sitting down next to Victoria.

"We decided on War of the Worlds." Lilo said, starting the movie.

They watched the movie with interest for the first half, but after that, everyone started nodding off, one by one. When the movie was over, Lilo opened her eyes and glanced around; everyone was asleep. Jumba was in the armchair, Angel had her head on Skipper's lap, while he was leaning back against the back of the couch. Victoria and Leroy were leaning against each other, snoring lightly. _Thank God Jumba fixed that on Leroy_. She thought. Stitch had laid down on the floor close to her. Nosy had ducked out at some point, no doubt to gather more dirt. Sparky was under the couch, and Sample was under the table, both had borrowed a blanket. Lilo decided that she really didn't need to go anywhere to sleep. She laid down in front of Stitch, scooting close against him so she could feel his fur on hers. She smiled contently as she drifted off to sleep. Everything was going perfectly for her.

However, for a certain gerbil, things were not going so well.

"You stupid ship! Why do you constantly break on me? Computer, what still works on this stupid ship?"

"Life support, navigational sensors, backup generators, and maneuvering thrusters are still functional. All other primary and secondary systems are offline."

Hamsterviel sighed. "Do escape pods work?" He asked.

"Ejection system is non-operational. Escape pods are undamaged and at full power."

Hamsterviel shrugged. "At least using one of those I can go land on that stupid Hawaiian planet." He said to himself.

"Not a recognized question." The computer voice rang out.

Hamsterviel growled. "Shut up you stupid computer, I wasn't talking to you. So, pods first, and then leave when I have to. That will work out fine."


	14. Demise

Disclaimer: I do not own Lilo and Stitch.

Chapter 14: Demise

Stitch opened his eyes, only to close them again as the light hit them. Even though the windows were covered, the sun was shining right where the window was, making it kind of bright. After a minute, he was able to open his eyes. As he started to wake up, he realized that Lilo was lying right in front of him, with her back up against him. The feeling of her fur on his sent a tingling sensation down his spine. He glanced around the room, and saw that everyone else was already awake. He thought about letting Lilo sleep, but figured that she'd want to be up, especially since it was almost nine o'clock.

"Time to wake up." He said, shaking her gently. She yawned and turned over, opening her eyes.

"Morning Stitch." She said. They came together in a quick kiss, and then parted and stood up. Lilo glanced around he room and then at the clock. "I guess we slept a little late." She said. "Everyone else is already up." Jumba walked in to the room.

"You is finally up. Everyone else is at the beach, and 177 and 123 are with them. Breakfast is just needing to be heated up, and then the three of us can go down to the beach also." Lilo and Stitch ate quickly, and then ran down to the beach with Jumba right behind them. When they got there, they sat down with the others. Only Lilo, Skipper, and Victoria could really swim, and they didn't want to leave the others behind. Lilo could have always used her powers, but she was loath to use them, even now that Athena was gone.

"So, what are we going to do?" Skipper asked.

"I need to… run back to the house to… grab something." Leroy said quickly. "I'll be back in a bit." Before anyone could say another word, he was gone.

"Ok." Skipper said, slightly confused. "So, what else?"

"Well, I like the idea of sitting her for a bit of a tan." Carmen said.

"Yeah, why do anything?" Angel asked. "Let's just lie down and soak in the sun."

"Just as long as I can lie next to you." Skipper said. Angel smiled, and everyone lied down. Skipper pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on. Jumba glanced around at the others, and then muttered something about a comic shop, and walked off.

"He doesn't like the beach very much, does he?" Clip asked.

Lilo shook her head. "Not really. I don't think that anything good has happened to him on the beach ever." They laid there for over an hour, before Leroy showed up again.

"So, we're just getting a tan?" He asked, lying next to Victoria.

She nodded. "That's about it. By the way, what took you so long?"

"I… ran in to someone I knew." Leroy said. "Sorry it took me so long." He looked up at the sun. "So how long are we going to be here?"

"Oh, probably only another hour or so." Victoria said. "Then we'll probably get some lunch, and then do something else."

"Where are Jumba and Pleakly?"

Victoria thought for a moment. "Well, Jumba said something about a comic book store, and the last time I saw Pleakly was when I threw him off the ship. Why?"

"Just kind of wondering. Hope Pleakly isn't doing anything stupid."

"Last time he was 'rejected' he went on a giant shopping spree." Lilo said, joining the conversation. "I expect he'll show up tomorrow or the day after with about a dozen shopping bags."

"So, he won't be too mad at me?"

Lilo shook her head. "More then likely, he won't even remember that you threw him off the ship. It's kind of funny in a way, and yet kind of sad at the same time." They fell silent, and remained so for the next hour. After that time, Leroy stood up.

"Ok, I think it's time for lunch." One by one, those present opened their eyes and slowly stood up. Leroy looked himself up and down. "Guess I don't tan too well." He said. He closed his eyes and concentrated, and Victoria watched his fur change colors. When it finished, she gasped.

"Isn't that…"

Leroy nodded. "It's the exact same as Reuben's. I figure we owe him, and this is the least I can do."

Lilo ran up and hugged him, tears in her eyes. "Thanks." She whispered. Leroy was surprised, but returned the hug.

"It was nothing. Come on, let's go eat." Lilo let go of him, and they walked off into the city.

"So, where are we going to eat?" Stitch asked.

"Well, we're going to head home." Sparky said. "Clip needs to get off her feet, and I have a bit of cleaning to do. See you guys around." They walked off.

"Carmen and I have to head out too." Sample said. "We're going to go see a movie together. See you later!"

Lilo watched them walk off. "So, now there's only the six of us. Still doesn't answer the question though."

"Let's just go back to your house and have some of the leftover pizza." Leroy suggested. "Saves us time and money."

"Sounds fine to me." Victoria said. They headed back to the house, and Lilo put some pizza in the oven to warm-up. Just as they were about to sit down to eat it, a beeping came from inside the house. It took a minute to track it down, and it turned out to be Stitch's communicator. Lilo handed it to him, and he turned it on.

"Stitch here."

"Hello Stitch, this is the Grand Council Woman."

"Good to see you. What do you need?"

"I'm calling to tell you that you need no longer search for Dr. Hamsterviel." She said.

"That's good news and all," Stitch said slowly, "but why?"

"We discovered his body about ten minutes ago in a floating escape pod orbiting the fourth planet in your area. We are busy looking into it right now, but our best guess right now is that someone snapped his neck."

"That's horrid!" Lilo said.

"Lilo, you're there too, that's good. I also am calling to tell you that we will be sending a shuttle tomorrow to pick up Leroy. I assume he hasn't caused too much trouble for you."

Lilo took the communicator from Stitch. "That's not going to work too well. You see, a lot has happened since he got here." Lilo related everything to the Council Woman about their adventures, from everything that Leroy had done to help and hinder, to the death of Reuben, to the resurrection of Skipper's memory. "We've finally turned him good." Lilo finished. "And he's fallen in love. We can't take him away."

The Council Woman sighed. "Lilo, I understand you, but the Council won't. They will insist on Leroy coming back here. They will refuse to believe he has changed, and say you are losing your mind. In fact, they may use it as an excuse to terminate your planet, so that none of the experiments can do anything to harm us."

"They can't do that!" Lilo exclaimed. "He's helped us out so much, and he had a deal!"

"The Council was always going to break that deal. Even _you_ were going to break that deal in the end."

Lilo groaned. "Is there anything we can do?" She asked. "I mean, if Leroy was thrown back in jail, Victoria would be heartbroken."

"Well, the only way he could stay is if the Council didn't know he was on that planet." There was silence for a moment. "Now, I'm the Council Woman so I can't tell you how to make it look like runs away. I also can't tell you that, if he were to 'steal' a shuttle and leave for the black hole, the Council would call him terminated, and stop searching for him. Finally, I cannot tell you that the shuttle bringing him back is completely automated, and could easily be hacked by Stitch or Jumba."

Lilo smiled. "Thank you so much."

"However, I must warn you that if they ever found out that we did this to hide him, you, Stitch, Jumba, and I would be arrested, and Earth destroyed. I doubt it will ever come to that. Besides, by the time one of us screws up, most of the Council won't even remember who he was."

"Don't worry, you can count on us to be super careful. I'll spread the news to the others. Aloha!" The line terminated, and Lilo looked up at Stitch. "Let's go tell the others," They ran back down to the kitchen where the others had started eating.

"Guys, we have good news." Stitch said. "The Council Woman called, and Leroy can stay."

"Really?" Leroy asked. "I figured they'd want me back."

"Well, as long as we do a bit of trickery, it's ok for you to stay." Lilo said. "And there's more: they found Hamsterviel."

"Where?" Skipper demanded.

"Doesn't matter," Stitch said, "because he's dead." Gasps came from around the room.

"How?" Angel asked.

"By the looks of it, someone broke his neck." Lilo said.

"Wish it had been me." Skipper said. "I would have loved to wring that little gerbil until he stopped moving."

"Wonder who did it?" Lilo asked.

Skipper nodded at Leroy. "I'm sure he has an idea."

"Why me?" Leroy asked, slightly wary.

"You're the only one who wasn't surprised to hear that Hamsterviel was dead. Stitch said it, and you just sat there, completely unfazed."

"Is he right? Do you know who did it?" Victoria asked, looking up at Leroy, who nodded.

"It was me. I'm sure you want to know when." Everyone nodded. "Well, when you were down on the beach, I came back here, supposedly to 'grab something.' What I grabbed was the ship, and I took off."

**Flashback**

As the ship lifted off, Leroy flipped on the scanners.

"Computer, scan Mars planet surface." Leroy commanded.

"Scans indicate one ship on planet surface." The ship replied in a monotone voice.

"Good." Leroy said. He piloted the ship into orbit around the planet. "Now, what is the condition of the ship?"

"Life support, maneuvering thrusters, navigational sensors, and backup generators are operational. All other systems have failed. Scanners indicate one life form is still aboard."

Leroy smiled. "Very good." He piloted the ship down to the surface and landed. After turning off the ship, he made his way down the ramp and over to Hamsterviel's ship. _This would be a lot harder if I had to worry about pressure, temperature, and atmosphere_. Leroy thought. He crawled around on the ship until he found the airlock. Forcing it open, he crawled in and let it shut behind him. Once he was sure it was tight, he turned and ripped the door into the ship off its hinges, sending a tingle of pain down his front. "I am going to hate that scar." He said quietly to himself. He padded through the ship, using his nose to track down his foe. He finally came to the power room, where he saw Hamsterviel working in the computer. Leroy pondered a moment on what to do to him, and then walked up behind him and ripped him out from the computer.

"You!" Hamsterviel said, sounding awed and afraid. "No, I killed you!"

Leroy laughed. "You wish you killed me." He set the gerbil on his feet. "I am going to make you pay for what you've done to everyone."

"No, I'll give you money, power… anything!" Hamsterviel begged.

"It's too late for bribes." Leroy said coldly. He brought out his extra arms and cracked his knuckled. "I may be good now, but I am going to enjoy this." He punched Hamsterviel in the face, breaking his nose. He then started listing off names, emphasizing each one with a kick or punch. "This is for me! For Lilo! Stitch! Angel! Victoria! Jumba! Pleakly! David! Nani! Skipper!" Hamsterviel was no little more then a half-alive bloody pulp. Leroy picked him up, and spun him to face away from him. He placed his hands on either side of Hamsterviel's head. "And this, is for Reuben." With a grunt and twist, a sharp crack rang through the ship. Leroy dropped the now lifeless body of Hamsterviel.

"Computer, can escape pods eject?" Leroy asked.

"Negative. Escape pod ejection sequence is non-operational. Pods are undamaged and at full power."

"I can fix that." Leroy said. He went to the computer that Hamsterviel had been toying with, and five minutes later, had restored power to the ejection system. He dragged the body into the escape pod, and looked at the engine. "Computer, set pod course to zero parsec. Engage when ejected."

"Course plotted." The computer responded. Leroy got out of the pod and closed the door. Going to the panel, he hit the eject button.

"Escape pod ejected. Previously set course initiated." The computer said. Leroy watched from the window as the pod rose in the air, and took off away from the planet.

"This battle is over." Leroy said. "It is finally over."

**End Flashback**

When Leroy finished retelling his story, everyone around sat quietly. The silence dragged on for almost five minutes, before Skipper spoke. "Well, I'm glad you got rid of him. If you hadn't, he may have left by the time the Council or us got to him, and he'd still be on the loose. I don't agree with the way you did it, but I believe that justice has been served. And look on the bright side, after we hotwire the shuttle tomorrow, we have nothing more to worry about."

Leroy looked around at them. "I need a walk." He said. "I'll be back later." Without another word, he slid from the chair and walked out the door.

He decided to go wander around the woods and collect his thoughts. When he had taken that trip to Hamsterviel, he had been sure he was doing the right thing. But, the way he had killed him, was that right? His head was swarming with doubts and questions. He sat down on a log and thought about everything that had happened; the deaths, injuries, love, everything. He sat out there for hours, long after the sun had dipped down over the horizon. He finally decided that he had done the right thing, just the wrong way. He stood up and headed back to Lilo's house. When he got there, he saw all the lights were off. Glancing through one of the window, he saw that it was almost eleven. He decided he needed to sleep, so he started sniffing around to find Victoria. He went on the ship and into one of the side rooms, where he knew there was a fairly large bed. He went to one side of the bed and crawled in. That's when he realized that Victoria was crying. She probably hadn't even heard him come in. He rolled on to his side and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you ok?" He asked. She turned over to face him, and he saw tears streaming down her face.

She nodded. "It's nothing."

"Yes it is." Leroy said, wiping the tears away. "What is it?"

"Well, it's about my parents." She said sadly. "If I want to stay with you, which I really do, and I will, then I have to give them up."

"What do you mean by 'give them up'?"

"I have to wipe their memories so they won't remember me." She said.

Leroy put his arms around her. "It's your choice."

"I know, and I'm going to choose you." She said. "Because I love you with all my heart. But, that doesn't change how bad it is."

"It's isn't bad." Leroy said. "Ok, maybe it is, but I can take care of you; I love you. Not only that, but technically you're twenty now, so you can definitely take care of yourself."

Victoria flashed a quick smile. "Yeah, I heard the talk Jumba gave about how the age worked. All I got was that I'm twenty now." She looked at Leroy. "Do you think I'm making the right choice?"

"Well, I'm glad that you're choosing to be with me. Really, I don't think that there _is_ a right or wrong decision in this case."

Victoria smiled. "Thanks Leroy."

Well, the end of this book is near. One more chapter to go.


	15. Back to Normal?

Disclaimer: I do not own Lilo and Stitch.

Chapter 15: Back to Normal?

Lilo woke up to a chorus of birds outside her window. Glancing over at the clock, she saw that it was only seven thirty. She thought about staying in bed, but knew that she wouldn't get back to sleep. Slipping out of Stitch's arms, she took the lift downstairs, and went to the kitchen. Looking at the calendar hanging there, she realized that today was the day that Nani and David were coming back. She took a quick glance around the house, and decided that things were a little messy, but it wouldn't really matter. Going back to the kitchen, she sat down to figure out what to have when Skipper came in the room.

"Morning Skip." Lilo said.

"Hey Lilo." He said, sitting down across the table.

"So, what are your plans for today?" Lilo asked, grabbing a box of cereal.

"Well, Angel and I decided that, since we're going to be together, to move in to my house today. We've intruded long enough, and it's time we get our own place."

"You guys going to have kids?" Lilo asked. She poured herself a bowl of the cereal, and then passed it over to Skipper so he could have some.

"Yeah, not sure how many though. We're kind of going to figure that out later. We'll drop by a little later maybe. Definitely when Nani and David get back." Angel came down the stairs yawning.

"Hey guys." She said.

"Hey Angel." Lilo replied. "Skip was just telling us about your plans to move to his house."

Angel nodded. "Yep, we're going to leave in a few minutes. We will drop by every now and then. Besides, when you and Stitch decide to start your own ohana, our kids will probably end up playing together."

Skipper glanced around. "I don't think we really brought anything over. Did you Angel?"

Angel chuckled. "I don't believe I have anything _to _bring over."

Leroy walked in with Victoria. "Hey guys. Jumba said you all need to stay here for a bit. He has some stuff he needs to take care of with us."

"Like what?" Skip asked.

"I can be answering that." Jumba said as he came in. "I is needing to reprogram you. I need to be giving 626 his power for climbing walls back. And I is wanting to use invention on you two, Leroy and little boy."

"What does it do?" Leroy asked.

"It gets rid of evil side." Jumba said. "626, please to be coming to ship. I will be taking care of your programming first." Jumba and Stitch walked off towards the ship. Skipper waited until they were gone, and then headed for the door with Angel.

"Where are you guys going?" Lilo asked.

"We're headed to my house. We talked it over before, and decided that I wasn't going to use it."

"Why not?"

Skipper sighed. "Well, this is something I'm going to beat myself, without the help of a machine."

Lilo nodded. "I know by now that I'm not going to change your mind. I hope you two have a good time together." Skipper and Angel walked out of the house together, and Lilo watched them walk off through the trees.

"Hey Lilo, Victoria and I were wondering if you knew of anywhere we would be able to stay?" Leroy asked.

Lilo thought for a moment. "Well, there is a house a little ways down by the beach. It's been abandoned for years, and it is kind of run down, but I bet with some help you could make it look like new."

"Thanks. Want to go check it out Victoria?"

Victoria nodded. "Let's go."

"You're not staying either?" Lilo asked.

Leroy shook his head. "I'm too much like Stitch. The best I can do, no matter what, is to have it sit in the darkness, whispering every now and then. There's no real way for me to get rid of it, just like there wasn't with Stitch."

Lilo smiled. "I guess you're right. Well, have fun you two. If you need any help getting that stuff together, just let Stitch or I know, and we'll help you out."

Leroy nodded as they headed out the door. "Thanks for everything Lilo. I couldn't have done anything without you." They headed off, and Lilo shut the door behind them. "Well, we're not out of the woods yet. Not until they call and inform us Leroy is… 'dead'." She sat down in the kitchen where Stitch had been, and took a sip of the drink. She jumped as she realized that it wasn't her juice, but Stitch's coffee. After the shock had worn off, she realized how good it actually tasted. She drained the cup, and poured herself another one. She decided to head out to the ship to tell Jumba what was going on. She walked on the ship, and saw Stitch connected to a computer.

"Oh, hello little girl. I will be done with 626 in just a few moments." Jumba said. "Ok 626, I believe that I have fixed you back to normal. Try to climb wall, please." Stitch obliged, and crawled up to the ceiling. "It works!" Jumba said happily. When Stitch got back to the ground, Jumba disconnected him from the computer. "So, what is it that you want, little girl?"

"I came to tell you that Skipper and Leroy… decided not to stick around."

"But they need to!" Jumba protested. "Especially little boy! Without machine, they could go evil again!"

"Skipper decided to beat it himself; just as always. Leroy said that it wouldn't matter, that he was too much like Stitch."

Jumba sighed. "I understand Leroy, and I believe he is right. There is no way to get rid of evil, since it was in original programming. Like Stitch, though, he has found place to belong, and now has an ohana. However, little boy I believe is making a big mistake. I mean, without getting rid of evil, who knows what could happen."

Stitch chuckled. "He always was kind of independent and all that. I don't think he _wants_ accept help. Not that he doesn't need the help, but that he doesn't want to _admit_ he needs it."

"You might be right." Lilo said. "But we aren't going to be able to change his mind."

Jumba sighed again. "Fine, I'll let him be for now. I would like to know where those swords got to though."

"That is a good question." Lilo said. "I never saw him with them."

"He still had them when Angel and I escaped." Stitch said thoughtfully. "But I don't remember seeing them after that."

"Do you think we should go ask him about them?" Lilo asked. "I mean, they are kind of powerful."

Stitch nodded. "Let's go do that right now, before we forget about it again."

"I will be hanging around here." Jumba said. "Take as much time as you want." Lilo and Stitch ran through the trees for a minute, before coming to a house. It was about the size of Lilo's, and the color scheme was identical. The only difference, Lilo assumed, was that there was no alien technology sitting around inside of it. They went around to the front door and knocked. A moment later, Skipper opened it.

"Hey guys, come on in." Skip said. "I didn't expect to get a visit from you guys so soon."

"Well, we needed to talk to you about something." Lilo said. Skipper led them into the kitchen, where he pulled out a slice of coconut cake for each of them.

"So, what can I answer that anyone else cannot?" Skipper asked, sitting down with them.

"What did you do with the swords?" Stitch asked.

Skipper nodded. "Ah yes, the swords. Well, after I got rid of Tiberius, I grabbed his sword and headed down to Australia. I had both the swords with me, and I was trying to figure out what to do with them. I decided that the only thing to do was to get rid of them. I tried to destroy them in a variety of ways, but was completely unsuccessful. So, as I was flying over the ocean, I tied a mountain of rocks to them and dropped them in. According to the sensors, it went at least a couple hundred feet below the surface."

"Which ocean?" Lilo asked. "There are a few of them."

Skipper laughed. "You know I was never good with geography. I have absolutely no clue which ocean it was, exactly. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell anyone. There as safe down there as anywhere else in the galaxies."

Stitch nodded. "He is right. I mean, who would look for the two strongest weapons against experiments on Earth? This is the last place anyone would look. Besides, most alien ships can't even go down that deep in the ocean without being destroyed."

"Ok." Lilo said. "I guess we'll head back then. I'm sure that you and Angel want a bit of privacy."

"Ok." Skipper said. "We'll keep in touch, don't worry." Lilo and Stitch said goodbye, and headed back to their house.

"So, everything's back to normal now." Stitch said. "Nani and David will be home soon, Hamsterviel is gone, Angel and Skipper are back together, Leroy turned good and with Victoria, and we're together again."

Lilo put her arm around him. "Yeah, but just wait. I'm sure David and Nani will have a kid at some point, and that'll throw everything back into chaos. Then Angel and Skip will have kids, and they'll ask us to baby-sit for them."

Stitch glanced at Lilo. "Do you want to have kids?" He asked.

"Someday." Lilo said. They got back to the house, and Jumba was waiting for them.

"Oh good, you are back. Bigger girl just called, and they landed at airport not long ago. They should be back in about two hours or so. They want to make sure house is cleaned up in time."

Lilo looked around. They hadn't really picked up after themselves during the past two weeks, with all the stuff they had had to do. "Ok, well first thing we should do is take care of Nani's room, soon to be Nani and David's. I'm sure that's the first place they'll go."

Stitch grabbed the phone. "I'll call and see if the others can come and help." Lilo wandered off and started cleaning in Nani's room. Thankfully, it had only been used when Leroy had stayed there temporarily, so it only needed a quick dust. When she came out, she saw that Skipper and Angel had come over, and were working in the kitchen. Jumba was busy 'cleaning' his own room, so Lilo decided to help out Stitch, who was picking up all the crap they had left from the movie night.

"At this pace, we should get done just before they get home." Stitch said.

"We need baths too." Lilo pointed, smiling as she heard Stitch moan behind her. As they continued picking up the room, Lilo's mind wandered over the events of the past few days. It eventually stopped on the question Stitch had asked her: Did she want kids? She had never really thought about it. According to Nani, she didn't have to worry about that until she was older. But with 628, she _was_ older now, and that meant that she actually needed to consider the question. She glanced behind her, watching Stitch lift the couch up with one of his hands so he could pick up the trash underneath. _Well, if I do, there isn't anyone else I'd rather be with then him_. Lilo thought. _He's so kind, so cute, so loveable. I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't gotten hit by 628?_ _Wait a minute, 628…_ Her thought trailed off.

"Jumba!" Lilo called, heading off to his room.

"What is it?" He called, turning to see Lilo in the doorway.

"What ever happened to 628?" Lilo asked.

Jumba shrugged. "Undoubtedly, he was abandoned by Hamsterviel somewhere. Does little boy know?"

"I'll ask him." Lilo said. She went to the kitchen, where Skipper was up to his waist in hot, soapy water. By the looks of it, since the sink was so high up, he had decided to get in the water to make washing the dishes easier.

"Hey Skip, what did Hamsterviel do with 628?"

Skipper shrugged. "I don't know. I overheard him say something about keeping 628 for an emergency, but I never found out anymore then that."

Lilo sighed. "And if Hamsterviel hid him, there isn't much of a chance of us finding him, is there?"

"Nope. I'm sure Hamsterviel hid him well, especially if it was a last resort plan. Where he would have put it though is beyond me." Skipper said. "Sorry I can't help you."

Lilo shrugged. "It's ok. As long as he won't be doing anything again, I guess it's ok if we can't find him." They spent the rest of the time cleaning in silence. Just as they finished cleaning, Jumba stuck his head around the corner.

"Bigger girl says they will be home in fifteen minutes. If you is taking baths, I would take them now."

Lilo nodded. "Ok, Angel and Skipper can go first, that way they can go home if they don't want to stick around. After that, Stitch and I will go." Skipper and Angel jumped into the bathroom, emerging a couple minutes later, looking clean and refreshed. Lilo and Stitch went in, and Lilo closed and locked the door.

"Stitch don't want bath." He said. Lilo sighed; she knew he was going to be like this at some point. He never liked taking baths, ever.

"Stitch, I'll be right there with you." Lilo said. "Besides, would I really try and drown you?" Stitch shook his head slowly, and slowly got into the tub. Lilo could tell he still didn't like it, but that he was past the point of complaining right now. They washed up quickly, jumped out, and dried off. They came out, Lilo still drying bits of her fur off with a towel. They glanced around, and saw that Skipper and Angel had left.

"I didn't expect them to stay." Stitch said. "Would have been a lot of explaining, after all the stuff that's happened since they left." As Lilo looked out the window, she saw a limo pulling up to the house.

"Jumba, they're back!" Lilo called, moving away from the window. She waited by the door until David was almost up the steps, and opened the door for them.

"Hey guys, good to see you again!" Lilo called, giving her new brother-in-law a big hug, almost causing him to drop the luggage he was carrying.

"Careful Lilo. I don't want to drop any of this stuff. But it's good to see you again too." Lilo let go, and let him go into the house. When Nani came up, Lilo gave her a big hug too, yelling "Naninaninaninaninaninani!!!!"

"It's good to see you too Lilo. I see the house is still in one piece." Coming in to the house, she smiled. "I see you gave it a good cleaning, too. Thanks." Lilo followed Nani to her room. She was about to ask Nani about the trip, when Jumba tapped her on the shoulder.

"Gantu is here to see you." He said. Lilo walked to the front of the house, and saw Gantu standing by the stairs.

"Hey Gantu, how's it going?"  
"I wanted to thank you for everything." Gantu said. "Letting me help you hunt Hamsterviel and all. I got a call from the Council Woman, and I've been reassigned to a deep space exploration mission. I'll be gone for a while, but I'll keep in touch when I can. I wanted to come and say goodbye." He offered his hand, and Lilo shook it.

"It was nice working with you Gantu. And to think a few years ago, we were trying to beat each other up."

"The best enemies tend to make the best of friends." Gantu said.

"Bye Gantu. If anything comes up, you'll be the first person I call." Lilo said. With one last handshake, Gantu walked off through the trees. Lilo smiled.

"Yeah, everything's back to normal now." Lilo said to herself. She went back into the house, and closed the door behind her.

**Secret Facility**

**Location: Approximately 20 miles under Raaro surface**

Aros watched in anticipation as the pod hissed open slowly. He had hopes on both sides, wanting it both to work, and at the same time, not work. Cloning in this fashion was still experimental, and there were no guarantees it would work, or if it would remember who it was originally. However, by the looks of it, it was working. The clone slowly walked out of the pod, and Aros nodded.

"So, are you functioning?" He asked.

The clone nodded slowly. "Just slightly disoriented."

"That will pass soon. Due to your being activated so soon, you are sill not quite fully matured yet. But a few years should fix that."

"Good, then I will have my revenge." The clone laughed maniacally.

Aros shuddered slightly. "So, you remember who you are then?"

The clone nodded. "My name… is Doctor Jacque Van Hamsterviel!"

So, Hamsterviel cloned himself. How will he take his revenge? _When_ will he take his revenge? Where will Stitch and Lilo's relationship go? What about Angel and Skipper's? I'm sure these are all questions, and I bet there are more, on your minds right now. In order to find the answer, you'll have to read the final, repeat FINAL, book in this trilogy, entitled Carbon Copy. With my reduced work schedule, I'll have more time to type this stuff. I may not get the first chapter out for a few weeks, but it will come.


End file.
